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LIVES 



OF 



BRITISH STATESMEN, 



LIVES 



OF 



BRITISH STATESMEN 



BY 



JOHN MACDIARMID, Esq. 



A NEW EDITION. 




LONDON: 
L. A. LEWIS, 15, POULTRY, 

MDCCCXXXVIII. 






LONDON : 

Printed by Maurice & Co., Howford Buildings, 
Fenchurch Street. 



7i 



PREFACE. 



Of the men who have guided the councils of our 
country, and attained distinguished political emi- 
nence, we are desirous to learn many particulars, 
which would be misplaced in the general annals of 
a nation. The historian may seize the prominent 
features of their character, and describe the most 
important of their public transactions ; but numerous 
anecdotes, both of their public and private life, 
however interesting, he must leave unrecorded, 
while a whole people demand his attention. We are 
solicitous to know the steps by which they ascended 
to power, the qualities by which they retained their 
station, the incidents by which they terminated 
their exalted career. We are pleased to observe 
them in the more private intercourse of life ; to 
follow them into their families and closets ; and to 
discover how the men, who govern empires, con- 



VI PREFACE. 

duct themselves amidst the cares and duties which 
are common to the humble and the exalted. 

Nor is our curiosity alone interested by such 
information. To those who prepare to tread the 
same paths, and to gratify their ambition in the dis- 
charge of public functions, the progress and tran- 
sactions of their illustrious predecessors must be the 
volume in which they are to read the most impor- 
tant lessons. But it is not the statesman alone who 
is called on to observe the results of political ex- 
perience : in this country, where public opinion is 
possessed of so much sway, the voice even of 
private individuals may have some influence on 
the national councils. 

The moral lessons afforded by the career of states- 
men demand not less attention. Every one is 
interested to learn, from such eminent examples, 
that the lustre of the highest station is derived 
from the same virtues as those which embellish pri- 
vate life ; and that happiness is most attainable, as 
well as most secure, when our condition excites not 
the jealous passions of mankind. 

Such are the views which have guided the 
Author in delineating the Lives of British States- 
men. He has been anxious to derive his information 



PREFACE. Vll 

from the most authentic sources ; and to exhibit 
virtues and defects equally without exaggeration or 
diminution. He has avoided many opportunities of 
discussion, where the result did not seem of impor- 
tance to his immediate object ; but he has occasion- 
ally attempted, in the illustration of his subject, to 
throw light on some obscure or disputed parts of 
history. He has endeavoured to select the Lives 
from periods sufficiently distinct to prevent a repe- 
tition of the same political transactions, yet suffi- 
ciently connected to form a chain of history without 
considerable interruptions. 



CONTENTS. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 

Introduction. Birth of More, (1480,) and parentage. Education 
with Cardinal Morton— at Oxford — at Lincoln's Inn. Appear- 
ance at the bar — in the house of commons — in opposition. Retire- 
ment. Re-appearance and success at the bar. Professional conduct. 
Judge of the Sheriff's court. Literary pursuits — History of Ed- 
ward V. — The Utopia. Patronises literature. Literary friendships. 
Attracts the notice of Henry. Aversion to a Court, from love of 
ease and independence. Domestic avocations. Education of his 
children. His social intercourse. Dangers of a courtier's situation. 
Character of Henry VIII. More appointed treasurer of the Ex- 
chequer. In great favour, from his learning, wit, and humour- 
His public conduct. Influence on national improvement. Speaker 
of the house of commons. Disputes with Wolsey. Opinions in 
political economy. Employment in embassies — in public speeches. 
His opinion of Henry. Proposed divorce of the Queen. Opinion 
of More contrary to the King's wish. He is created Chancellor 
in 1529. Dispute with the Judges. Integrity. Disinterestedness. 
Patronage of the arts. Religious controversies. His persecution 
of the Protestants. Disinterested zeal. Difficulties relative to the 
divorce. Resignation of the chancellorship. Poverty. Filial 
piety. Invitation to Court. Indictment with the Maid of Kent — 
relinquished. Resignation and fortitude. Accused of corrup- 
tion — of misprision of treason. Sent to the Tower. Cheerfulness. 
Interview with his daughter — with his wife. Indicted for high 
treason. Condemnation. Interview with his daughter. Execu- 
tion on 6th June, 1535. Character. Pp. 1 — 104. 

WILLIAM CECIL, 

LORD BURLEIGH. 

Birth and parentage. Education at Cambridge — at Gray's Inn. 
Introduction at Court. Appointed Custos Brevium. Master of 
the Requests. Secretary of State. Involved in the fall of Somer- 



X CONTENTS. 

set. Restored to office. Conduct to Somerset. Diligence in 
office. Effects a change in the carrying trade of England. Pro- 
poses alterations in the staple. His favour with Edward VI. Con- 
duct relative to Northumberland's designs. Temporary retirement 
from public affairs. Connexion with Cardinal Pole. Defence of 
the Protestants. Corresponds with Elizabeth before her acces- 
sion. Made Secretary of State, (1558,) — and Prime Minister. 

Cecil's policy relative to religion. His civil policy — Reformation of 
the coin — Regard to public opinion — Care of public education — 
Financial plans — Frugality— Opposition to grants to courtiers — 
Improvement of the soldiers' condition — Management of the 
revenue — Attachment to peace. Foreign policy — Policy towards 
Spain and the Low Countries — War with Spain. Earl of Essex. 
Cecil's policy towards France. Policy towards Scotland — Mary 
Queen of Scots. Cecil's advice. Feelings of Elizabeth. Distress 
caused to Cecil by the affairs of Mary. 

Uniformity of Cecil's policy. His offices and honours. Political 
characteristics. Diligence and punctuality. His reserve in public 
affairs. Moderation and self-command. Patronage of men of 
talents. His desire of publicity. Impartiality. Vigilance and 
intelligence. Private expenditure. Magnificence. Conduct of 
Elizabeth towards him. Desirous frequently to resign. His 
private life. Recreations. Temperance. Charity. Piety. 
Behaviour to his family and dependants. Unhappiness of his 
latter years. Decay. Death, in 1598. Pp. 105— 207. 

THOMAS WENTWORTH, 

EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

Parentage. Education at Cambridge. Travels. Disposition. At 
Court. Knighted. Marriage and succession. Domestic avoca- 
tions. Justice and Custos Rotulorum. His difference with Buck- 
ingham. Member of parliament. Historical sketch of the Eng- 
lish constitution to the reign of James I. Despotic disposition of 
James. Wentworth's conduct in parliament. Again in parlia- 
ment, 1624. His conduct. Illness. Rural retirement. In par- 
liament, June 13, 1625. Discontent of the nation. Wentworth 
in opposition. Courted by Buckingham. Appointed sheriff 
against his wish. Moderate resolutions. Conduct as sheriff. Phi- 
losophic views. New overtures from Buckingham. Wentworth 
deprived of his office of Custos Rotulorum. Private advances 
to the King. The Court demands a general loan. Wentworth 
dissuaded from opposing it. Reasons for his conduct. Impri- 
soned. Released. In parliament, 1628. Speech for popular 



CONTENTS. XI 

rights. Promotes the Petition of Right. Overtures from the 
court — accepted by him. Made a Peer and President of the Coun- 
cil of York. Death of Buckingham. Wentworth's conduct as 
President of the Council of York. His promotion to the govern- 
ment of Ireland in 1632. 
Disordered state of Ireland. Wentworth's dexterity in raising sup- 
plies. His principal objects. Instructions for his government. 
His treatment of the privy council. Efforts to procure a parlia- 
ment for Ireland. Methods to subdue opposition. Speech to 
parliament. Management of the commons in the first session. 
Of the lords in the second session. His exultation. Application 
for an earldom. Thwarted in his wish to continue the parliament. 
His measures for conformity. Introduction of the English laws. 
Amelioration of the military estalishment. Expedients for im- 
proving the revenue — the customs — sale of tobacco — statutes of 
Wills and Uses — trade with Spain — the linen manufacture — the 
monopoly of salt — the discovery of defective titles. Arbitrary 
measures. Trial of Mountnorris. Death of Clanricarde and 
others. Wentworth's appearance at Court. His zealous support 
of ship-money. New application for an earldom — refused. His 
mortification. Return to Ireland. Subsequent measures. Do- 
mestic life. Marriages. Recreations. Temperance. Attention 
to his private fortune. Integrity. Splendour. Bodily infir- 
mities. Vexations. Quarrel with Loftus. Consulted on the 
Spanish war. His reply. 
Affairs of Scotland. Wentworth's conduct to the Scots. Sent for 
by the King. Arrival in England, November 1639. Advises war 
with the Scots. And a parliament. Created Earl of Strafford, and 
Lord-Lieutenant. Success with the Irish parliament. Dangerous 
illness. In the English parliament, April 1640. Appointed to 
command the troops. Adverse affairs. His mistaken views. 
Difficulties. Summoned to parliament, November 1640. Im- 
peached of high treason. Articles of impeachment. His trial. 
His defence. Prosecuted by a bill of attainder. Bill passed in 
the house of commons. Passed in the house of lords. Straf- 
ford's letter to the King. Attainder sanctioned by the King. 
Strafford's preparations for death. Execution, 12th May, 1641. 
Pp. 208—392. 

EDWARD HYDE, 

EARL OF CLARENDON. 

Birth. Education at Oxford — in the Temple. Marriage. Success 
at the bar. Habits. In parliament, 1640. In parliament, No- 



Xll CONTENTS. 

vember 3, 1640. His patriotic loyalty. Sent to the Tower. 
Introduction to the King. Confidential employment. Made Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer. Favour with the King. Commission at 
Uxbridge. Situation during the war. Of the Prince of Wales's 
council. Employed on his History. Joins the prince at the 
Hague. Hated by the Queen. Ambassador to Spain. Reception 
there. Condemns the treaty of the young King with the Scots. 
Harassed by calumnies. Favoured by Charles. His extreme 
poverty. Persevering integrity. Death of Cromwell. State of 
affairs in England. General Monk. Restoration of the King. 
Hyde created Lord Chancellor. Principal Minister. His public 
measures; Act of indemnity and oblivion — settlement of the 
revenue — exertions for the prerogative — policy towards Scotland 
— regulation of the national judicature — settlement of religion. 
His disinterestedness. Devotion to the King. Shocked by the 
King's principles. Conduct relative to his daughter's marriage — 
to the marriage of the King — to the Duchess of Cleveland — the 
sale of Dunkirk — the act of indulgence to Dissenters — the Dutch 
war, 1665. His extreme unpopularity. Falls under the King's 
displeasure. Obnoxious to the parliament. Deprived of his 
office. Impeached of high treason. Leaves the kingdom. Ill 
treatment in France. Residence at Montpelier. Apostacy of his 
daughter to the Catholic faith. His desire to revisit England. 
Death. Pp. 393—479. 

Appendix : — 

The Utopia — The other Works of More— Letters from More on the 
Education of his Family, and to his Children — Epitaph on the 
Tomb of More. Letter from the Earl of Sussex to Sir William 
Cecil relative to Mary Queen of Scots — Cecil's Deliberation con- 
cerning Scotland — His Advices to his Son. Characters of the 
Ministers and other public men, from Clarendon. Pp. 481 — 514. 




V„.A 



/ ( 



■ tin I '/., 



LIVES 



OF 



BRITISH STATESMEN 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 

Towards the close of the fifteenth century, those con- 
tests for the sovereignty, which had so long distracted 
England and obstructed her improvement, were, by the 
union of the rival families, brought at length to a termi- 
nation. The marriage of Henry VII. with Elizabeth, the 
daughter of Edward, did not, indeed, produce that com- 
plete and cordial harmony between all parties which 
might have been expected. That monarch, — haughty, 
selfish, and intensely jealous of his authority, still re- 
collected that, as heir to the house of Lancaster, he held 
the throne by a very doubtful claim; and strove, by 
treating his wife with neglect, and the partisans of her 
family with harshness, to efface from the public mind the 
impression of her superior title. He ruled thus rather as 
the head of a party, than as the common sovereign of his 
people ; yet any open discontents, to which this perverse 
policy gave rise, were quickly subdued by his sagacity 
and vigour. On the slightest appearance of insurrection, 
he was ever ready to march out against his enemies ; and 
if he delayed, on the first opportunity, to give them 
battle, it was only when he found that his conquest would 
be rendered more easy by their increasing straits and 
ripening dissensions. Under this vigorous administration, 

B 



2 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

England began to enjoy a tranquillity to which she had 
long been a stranger: and although the people suffered 
grievously from the oppressive exactions of their monarch, 
yet, as all disturbers of the public peace were quickly 
and severely punished, the internal intercourse of the 
kingdom became less interrupted ; and industry, as usual, 
increased with the security of persons and property. 

Various circumstances occurred, during the course of 
this reign, to turn the activity of mankind from bloodshed 
and devastation, to pursuits more interesting and gene- 
rous. The continental monarchs also had succeeded in 
extending their authority over all classes of their subj ects, 
and in establishing governments, which, although rude 
and arbitrary, were far preferable to the turbulent anarchy 
cf the feudal institutions. Their subjects, thus prevented 
from expending their energy in mutual destruction, began 
to turn their attention to pursuits compatible with good 
order and regular government. Excited by the success 
of the Hanse towns and the Italian republics, which had 
hitherto acted as the carriers of Europe, and acquired vast 
wealth by their traffic, the other maritime nations began 
eagerly to aspire after a portion of these advantages ; and 
our countrymen, though at first retarded by the want of 
capital and skill, became initiated in that maritime trade 
for which nature has so remarkably adapted our situation. 
The progress of commerce, the improvement of agri- 
culture, and the introduction of manufactures, were indeed 
slow and interrupted ; yet they habituated the people to 
the occupations of peace, and taught them to look for 
gratification in arts hitherto unknown. The more restless 
spirits, who felt no relish for tranquil pursuits, or whose 
eagerness could not wait the slow returns of industry, 
soon found ample room for their exertions, without dis- 
turbing the public peace, when the enterprises of the Por- 
tuguese and Spaniards, aided by the recent discovery of 
the compass, opened a vast field to adventurers in the 
East Indies and America. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 3 

At this period, when the human mind, awakened from 
the long slumber of the dark ages, began to exert extra- 
ordinary activity, a portion of the more affluent classes 
directed their attention to the pursuits which adorn, while 
they improve mankind. Literature, which had already 
made considerable progress in Italy, began to be eagerly 
prosecuted throughout Europe; and England soon pro- 
mised to rival her more enlightened neighbours. It is 
from this era that individuals, as well as society in gene- 
ral, become interesting, owing, not more to the greater 
diversity and importance of their pursuits, than to the 
more complete and authentic records, in which, from the 
progress of literature, aided by the discovery of printing, 
their characters and transactions are preserved. Of the 
most important events in the preceding part of English 
history, and of the characters even of her monarchs, pos- 
terity has received only a faint outline, which succeeding 
historians, from their conjectures, or from traditions 
scarcely more authentic, have endeavoured to complete 
and embellish. But from the age of Henry VII. we are 
furnished with such authentic memorials even of indi- 
vidual statesmen, as enable us, without transgressing the 
known bounds of truth, to give satisfactory views, not 
only of their more prominent transactions, but of their 
manners, their opinions, and the motives which guided 
their conduct. 

Among the statesmen who appeared at this remarkable 
period, Thomas More, from his talents, his acquirements, 
and the affecting vicissitudes of his fortune, most strongly 
attracted the attention of his contemporaries. He was 
born in Milk-street, London, in 1480, five years before 
the accession of Henry VII. to the throne. His father, 
Sir John More, one of the judges of the court of king's 
bench, a man of acute wit and sound understanding, took 
due precautions that the early indications of genius in his 
son should not languish for want of cultivation. In the 
first rudiments of education he was instructed at a free 

b2 



4 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

grammar-school in Threadneedle-street, a seminary of con- 
siderable eminence, but affording means of improvement 
very unequal to what, in the present times, may be pro- 
cured at a grammar-school of reputation. The elements 
of the Latin language were taught, but the pupils, instead 
of forming an acquaintance with the elegant authors of 
Rome, had in their hands only the dull and barbarous 
treatises of the schoolmen ; and while their taste was thus 
early depraved, that superstition which held the place of 
religion, and that sophistry which usurped the name of 
knowledge, clouded their imaginations and perverted their 
understandings. A more elegant literature had dawned 
on the Continent, but its first rays had as yet scarcely 
reached England. 

As a further step in his education, More was afterwards 
placed in the family of Cardinal Morton. In consequence 
of the form into which society was thrown by the feudal 
institutions, the only road by which men of inferior rank 
could hope to reach distinction, was the favour of the 
great proprietors in land, the chief ecclesiastics, and the 
principal officers of state. In their families, also, the 
politeness, elegance, and knowledge of the age were to 
be found : for while there was no middle rank of respec- 
tability, and the bulk of the community laboured under 
poverty and ignorance, the patronage of the great was 
necessarily courted by men of learning, as their only 
resource ; and distinguished scholars had a ready access to 
the tables of persons of condition, at a period when the 
possession of learning was so rare. At the same time, 
the internal economy of a great man's family, resembling, 
on a smaller scale, that of the monarch, was the proper 
school for acquiring the manners most conducive to suc- 
cess at court. Persons of good condition were conse- 
quently eager to place their sons in the families of the 
great, as the surest road to fortune. In this station, it 
was not accounted degrading to submit even to menial 
offices : while the greatest barons of the realm were proud 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 5 

to officiate as stewards, cupbearers, carvers to the mo- 
narch, a youth of good family could wait at the table, or 
carry the train of a man of high condition, without any 
loss of dignity. The patronage of the great man being 
naturally secured to those who had acted as his inmates 
and retainers, admission into the families of the principal 
officers of state, who had preferment most directly in their 
power, was particularly courted. All these advantages 
were happily united in the situation of More, since his 
patron, who held the rank of cardinal in the church, was 
at once primate, chancellor, and the confidential minister 
of the king. 

More soon attracted particular notice among the cardi- 
nal's retinue, not more by the gracefulness of his person 
and address, than by his ready flow of wit and the perpe- 
tual sprightliness of his temper. At this early age he was 
accustomed, we are told, to step in among the players who 
acted, during holidays, at the cardinal's palace ; and un- 
dertaking, without any previous study, a part imagined by 
himself, to support it with a liveliness and ingenuity which 
excited the admiration of the hearers. # In that age, plays 
were neither composed nor acted in the regular manner 
which a more refined taste has since introduced : they 
consisted chiefly of such contests of wit and drollery as 
we occasionally meet with in Shakspeare ; and the player 
was more frequently employed in sporting his own humour, 
than in reciting the words of an author. But these enter- 
tainments, if rude and barbarous when compared with the 
regular drama, were better calculated to sharpen the wit 
of the performers, and give them a peculiar readiness of 
humour. On More, the share which he took in them 
seems to have had effects both striking and permanent; 
for in readiness of reply, and in the extraordinary facility 
of his expression, whether conversing or haranguing, he 
was accounted superior to all his contemporaries. 

* More's Life, by his son-in-law, William Roper, edited by Thomas 
Hearne, 1716, p. 3. 



6 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

The cardinal, a man of an acute and penetrating mind, 
charmed with the vivacity and promptitude of More, solici- 
tously pointed him out to the nobility who frequented his 
house, as a boy of extraordinary promise. " This child 
here waiting at table," he would say, " whosoever shall 
live to see it, will prove a marvellous man."* Such pro- 
phecies from a man of Morton's rank and experience, as 
they could not fail to produce a strong impression on More, 
probably contributed to stimulate those exertions by which 
they were realized. The person, the wisdom, the talents 
and worth of the cardinal, through life a favourite topic with 
his ward, are thus introduced in his principal performance : 
" He was a man not more venerable for the high dignities 
which he held, than for his wisdom and virtue. His per- 
son, of the middling size, still retained its vigour to a late 
old age : his countenance excited rather reverence than 
awe ; and although grave in his demeanour, he was never 
difficult of access. To discover what presence of mind 
was possessed by those who solicited his patronage, he 
was accustomed to give them a harsh and repulsive, yet 
not insulting, reception ; and such as, without petulance, 
gave indications of a ready wit and firm temper, he de- 
lighted to promote, as men of kindred minds to his own. 
To a polished and energetic eloquence, he joined great 
knowledge in the laws, uncommon genius, and a memory 
which, naturally strong, and cultivated with indefatigable 
diligence, had become altogether extraordinary. Having, 
at a very early age, b,een transferred from school to court, 
employed, from that time forward, in the most important 
affairs, and perpetually subjected to the vicissitudes of 
fortune, his wisdom and experience, acquired amidst many 
and great dangers, was relied on with implicit confidence 
by his sovereign, and entrusted with the chief direction of 
the government."f Listening daily to the conversation, 
and observing the conduct of such a personage, More na- 
turally acquired more extensive views of men and things 

* Roper's Life of More, p. 3. + Utopia, p. 60, edit. Oxon. 1663. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. { 

than any other course of education could, in that back- 
ward age, have supplied.* 

At the age of seventeen, being sent, at the instance of 
his zealous patron, the cardinal,f to Oxford, where a bet- 
ter taste in literature had lately been introduced, he had 
there the advantage of attending the lectures on Greek and 
Latin of Grocyn and Linacre, two eminent scholars. Cap- 
tivated with these studies, which opened to his view such 
treasures of refinement and learning, he prosecuted them 
with indefatigable vigour, and soon discovered his profi- 
ciency by translations from the classics, and epigrams in 
the learned languages. But in this agreeable path his 
progress was speedily interrupted. His father, having 
destined him for his own profession, looked upon elegant 
learning with a feeling not uncommon even in our days, as 
not only unnecessary to a barrister, but even inconsistent 
with great proficiency in the knowledge of law. Consi- 
dering it, therefore, his duty to discourage the propensity 
of his son towards pursuits which might obstruct his future 
fortune, he determined, as the most effectual method, to 
make his allowances so scanty, that nothing could be spared 
from them to procure instruction in his favourite studies. J 

* Previous to the ready and general access to information which the 
art of printing, by multiplying the copies of books, has afforded, the chief 
means which the young could employ to accelerate their progress in the 
acquisition of knowledge was by attaching themselves to some wise and 
learned man, and listening with diligence to his discourses and conversa- 
tion. Such was the method of education practised in Athens, where we 
find every young man ambitious of instruction a constant attendant, both 
in public and private, on Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, or some other teacher 
distinguished for his acquirements. At Rome a similar course was pur- 
sued ; and we thus find Cicero describing his early education : " Ego 
autem a patre ita eram deductus ad Scaevolam, sumpta virili toga, ut, 
quoad possem, et mihi L'ceret, a senis latere nunquam discederem. Ita 
multa ab eo prudenter disputata, multa etiam breviter et commode 
dicta, memorise mandabam : fierique studebam ejus prudentia doctior." 
Lselius, sive de Amicitia. 

-f- M ore's Life, by his great grandson, Thomas More, edit. 1726, p. 9. 

X Erasm. Epist. 447, ad Huttenium. " Juvenis ad Grsecas literas sese 
applicuit, adeo non opitulante patre, viro alioque prudenti, proboque, ut 
ea conantem omni subsidio destitueret ; ac pcne pro abdicato haberet, 



8 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

This act of parsimony, although on that account ex- 
tremely mortifying to him, was attended, as he afterwards 
acknowledged, with beneficial effects, in restraining him 
from those dissolute companions and habits to which so 
many youths entrusted with a lavish command of money 
owe the ruin of their studies, their health, and their morals. 
His uncommon industry, however, still compensated the 
want of opportunities ; and he would willingly have de- 
voted his life to pursuits in which he found so much gra- 
tification, had not the displeasure of a father, whom he 
tenderly loved and respected, compelled him to give ano- 
ther direction to his exertions. 

After having passed two years at Oxford, he removed 
first to New Inn, and afterwards to Lincoln's Inn, to 
prosecute the study of law. But although he neglected 
not the requisite preparations for this profession, he en- 
tered upon it with reluctance ; for, besides his propensity 
to letters, there were other circumstances which gave a 
different bent to his inclinations. His mind, naturally 
susceptible and ardent, had been early tinctured with 
sentiments of devotion; nor had it wholly escaped that 
degrading superstition, which the defects of his more early 
education, and the conversation of illiterate companions, 
naturally communicated. Subsequently, his acquaintance 
with k the authors of better times, joined to a disposition 
full of humanity, had imparted liberality to his opinions, 
had disposed him to censure the vices of the clergy, and to 
jest with many absurdities of the church of Rome. Still, 
however, some prejudices of education had taken too firm 
a hold of his mind to be eradicated. Impressed with the 

quod a patriis studiis desciscere videretur." Erasmus is very angry that 
the attention of More was thus directed from literary pursuits, and often 
takes occasion to wreak his resentment on what he accounted the barba- 
rous profession of the law. He calls it " professio a veris literis alienis- 
sima:" he speaks with great contempt of the English laws, " quibus 
nihil illiterates ; " and says, in excuse for More*s aversion to the profes- 
sion, " ab hoc cum non injuria abhorreret adolescentis ingenium, meli- 
oribus rebus natum," &c> 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 9 

efficacy of those austerities, on which so much reliance 
was placed in that age, he perpetually mortified himself 
with watching and fasting, and used to wear a hair shirt 
next his skin, a practice which, even in his highest exalta- 
tion, he never wholly relinquished. Every Friday, and 
also on high fasting days, he subjected himself to the 
discipline of a hard knotted cord; and even when he 
indulged in what he accounted a night of repose, he was 
accustomed to lie on a bench, or on the bare ground, 
with a log under his head, allowing himself at most only 
four or five hours of sleep. He took lodgings near the 
Charter-house, among the Carthusians, an order remark- 
able for the excess of their austerities ; and here, during 
four years, he continued to perform a rigid course of 
mortification.* 

In the meantime, he diligently attended the preaching 
of Dean Colet, whom he had chosen as his confessor ; 
a man of talents, and an enemy to superstition, but of 
a remarkably austere temper, and thoroughly convinced 
that the unruly passions of the human frame require to be 
subdued by incessant severities. The object which More 
had in view, by this course of discipline and instruction, 
was to prepare himself for entering the rigid order of St. 
Francis. Besides, however, the authority of his father, 
which strongly opposed this design, he was apprehensive 
of being unguardedly led into irregularities by the warmth 
of his temperament ; and, being too conscientious to follow 
the example of some of the Romish clergy, he resolved to 
turn his views again to a profession, in which the absurd 
prohibition of marriage did not counteract the intentions of 
nature.-f 

* Roper, p. 3. More, p. 15. 

+ Erasm. Epist. 447- " Neque quicquam obstabat quo minus sese 
huic vitae generi addiceret, nisi quod uxoris desiderium non posset excu- 
tere. Maluit igitur maritus esse castus, quam sacerdos impurus." 
Erasmus says in the same epistle, " Cum setas ferret, non abhorruit a 
puellarum amoribus, sed citra infamiam ; et sic ut oblatis magis frueretur 
quam captatis, et animo mutuo caperetur potius quam coitu." 



10 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

During this course of monkish austerities, incompatible 
as it may appear with worldly business or the pleasures of 
taste, he does not seem to have relaxed either his legal 
studies or literary pursuits ; and no sooner did he appear 
at the bar, than he began to practise with flattering pros- 
pects. He had already attracted much notice by public 
lectures on St. Augustine's work De Civitate Dei. These 
lectures are said to have been extremely rational, seldom 
occupied with obscure theological discussions, but di- 
rected chiefly to explain the more important principles 
of morals, and to elucidate historical difficulties. Their 
eloquence and learning were such as to draw together 
crowded audiences ; and even aged priests were not 
ashamed to receive instruction from a youth and a lay- 
man.* With peculiar satisfaction he observed among his 
hearers the learned Grocyn, his respected master at Ox- 
ford ; and the reputation here acquired procured him the 
office of law-reader at Furnival's Inn, where he still 
farther increased the fame of his abilities. In the present 
age, it may seem strange that his progress at the bar 
should have been forwarded by reading lectures on one of 
the Fathers ; f but, in his time, the professions of the law 
and church were by no means so accurately discriminated. 
The influence still retained by the ecclesiastical courts 
rendered all churchmen in some degree lawyers ; and 
various important offices in the secular courts were gene- 
rally occupied by ecclesiastics. In the court of chancery, 
which in so many instances controlled the judicatures at 
common law, the twelve masters, including the master of 
the rolls, were commonly doctors of the civil law ; J and 
the office of chancellor, then as now the highest legal 
station in England, had for some reigns been invariably 
occupied by dignitaries of the church. 

* Erasm. Epist. 447. More, p. 16. Stapleton, p. 161. 

■f These lectures on St. Augustine were as entirely theological as the 
Boylean at present, and were delivered in the church of St. Lawrence, 
Old Jewry. 

£ Blackstone, b. iii., c. 27. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. li 

Having now resolved to devote himself to secular em- 
ployments, he began to form a plan of life which might 
enable him to combine the fatigues of business with the 
recreation of literature. Among the illustrious characters 
whose example excited his emulation while it directed his 
course, his notice was particularly attracted by Picus, the 
celebrated Prince of Mirandula. To render his country- 
men partakers of the instruction which he had derived 
from the actions and writings of this accomplished 
scholar and generous patron of literature, he wrote his 
life, and, along with it, published his twelve precepts, 
with many of his learned and eloquent letters.* 

Before he had attained his twenty-third year, More 
was chosen a member of the house of commons, a 
station, however, which at that time had attained a very 
small share of its present dignity and importance. The 
sanguinary and incessant contests between the houses of 
York and Lancaster, by rendering it necessary for each 
successive possessor of the throne to arm himself with 
the powers of a military despot, had greatly checked the 
rising independence of the commons. Henry VII., who 
had acquired his crown by conquest, and who looked 
with suspicion and dread on the slightest interference 
with his authority, was particularly averse to bring before 
them any of his political measures. Their acknowledged 
right of imposing all taxes on the people, obliged him, 
indeed, to assemble them when he stood in want of pecu- 
niary supplies ; and he was also sufficiently willing to 
obtain their sanction for, and devolve on them a part of, 
the odium of his numerous attainders and confiscations. 
But no sooner were these purposes served, than the 
commons were dismissed, as a weapon too dangerous 
to be long kept out of the scabbard. In such a state 
of things, almost the only field for oratory which that 
house afforded, was either in opposing the requisitions 
of the crown for subsidies, or in proposing those con- 

* Stapleton, p. 162. More, p. 10. 



12 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

ditions with which the commons sometimes clogged their 
pecuniary grants. But, in a reign when perpetual con- 
spiracies afforded such ready pretexts for accusation, 
either of these was a dangerous attempt. Besides, the 
duration of parliaments was too short and uncertain, and 
their authority too circumscribed, to afford scope for 
any scheme of ambition. The house of commons was not 
then the road to distinction and power; no member could 
hope, by a successful opposition to the measures of the 
crown, to force himself into administration ; and, under a 
monarch impatient of opposition, and almost unlimited in 
power, the strenuous and eloquent patriot, instead of ad- 
vancing his fortunes, exposed his person and property to 
imminent danger. Hence, a seat in the house of com- 
mons, being often avoided as a source, not only of expense, 
but of vexation and peril, was obtained with little diffi- 
culty by a man anywise distinguished. 

But, in spite of the disadvantages which at that period 
attended a patriotic commoner, More discharged the trust 
reposed in him with fidelity and courage. Henry having 
required from his parliament a large contribution for the 
marriage of his eldest daughter with the King of Scotland, 
the demand, whether from its magnitude or the purpose 
to which it was to be applied, proved extremely unpopu- 
lar among the commons. Yet, from a just dread of the 
king's resentment, the measure seemed likely to pass in 
silence; when More, incapable of being deterred by any 
sense of personal danger from executing what he ac- 
counted his duty, boldly stood forward to oppose the 
requisition ; and, reasoning with such eloquence and 
strength of argument as to rouse the courage of his col- 
leagues, finally procured its rejection. # 

This display of patriotism and fortitude, at his first en- 
trance into public life, while it greatly increased his repu- 
tation, seemed to threaten the ruin of his prospects ; for 
Henry could not hear, without indignation, that his avarice 
* Roper, p. 4. Stapleton, p. 181. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 16 

had been disappointed and his authority thwarted, at the 
instigation of a youth distinguished by no rank or here- 
ditary influence. The want of fortune, however, proved 
the safety of the young patriot; for it was a maxim with 
Henry to make his revenge, if possible, subservient to his 
avarice; and, as the present object of his resentment had 
nothing to lose, the king was more averse to risk a public 
clamour, by directly violating the privileges of the com- 
mons. But that More might be sensible of his dis- 
pleasure, and deterred from a similar opposition in future, 
he contrived to fasten some groundless accusation on his 
father, Sir John More, and caused him to be shut up in 
the Tower, till he purchased his liberty, by paying for his 
pretended offence a fine of a hundred pounds. # Nor was 
Henry of a temper to be satisfied with this indirect re- 
venge; and More, although he dexterously eluded the 
arts practised to draw from him confessions which might 
afford a colour for his accusation, yet well knew the folly 
of openly contending with his implacable ruler. His first 
thoughts were to avoid the danger by going abroad, and 
with that view he studied the French language ; but al- 
though he laid aside this intention, he found it necessary 
to give up his practice at the bar, and live in complete 
retirement.^- 

This seclusion, while it threw a cloud over the dawn of 
his fortunes, was far from proving distasteful or irksome. 
Resuming with eagerness those elegant studies in which 
he had formerly made great proficiency, and applying 
himself also to history, mathematics, and in his leisure 
hours to music, he rivetted his early attachment to such 
pursuits, and greatly extended the range of his attain- 
ments. It is probably to this interval of retirement and 
study that we are, in a considerable degree, to ascribe his 
subsequent eminence in literature; for his first entrance 

* Equal, if we allow for the depreciation of money, to about eight 
hundred pounds in the present day. 
-f- Roper, p. 4. More, p. 36. 



14 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

at the bar took place at so early a period, before his 
taste or his habits could be fully formed, that, had he 
continued, without interruption, engaged in his profession, 
we should have been in danger of losing, in the laborious 
man of business, the scholar, the poet, and the philo- 
sopher. 

The death of Henry VII., which happened about six 
years afterwards, enabling him to resume his practice at 
the bar, his talents and acquirements soon raised him to 
eminent distinction. His application to the immediate 
objects of his profession had been sufficient to procure him 
a profound knowledge of the laws of his country, while his 
extensive general information, his acquaintance with ele- 
gant literature, and his early habits of declaiming, gave to 
his eloquence an energy and attraction which never failed 
to produce a powerful impression. His abilities were, 
therefore, no sooner known to the public, than he began 
to be eagerly consulted and retained in many important 
causes ; and in his practice and gains he equalled soon the 
most popular of his competitors ; * a striking instance, yet 
by no means so rare as is generally imagined, of success 
at the bar promoted by qualifications with which it is by 
many deemed imcompatible.f 

In his professional conduct various circumstances are 
recorded, which singularly illustrate his moral delicacy. 
When any cause was offered to him, his first care was, by 

* Erasm. Epist. 447- 

f It may seem strange that either argument or example should be 
requisite to prove, that success in a profession where so much depends on 
general knowledge, on an intimate acquaintance with the general affairs 
of society, with the human heart, and the means of persuasion, should 
actually be promoted by great proficiency in these accomplishments. 
But unless we had the authority of Blackstone, joined to the examples 
of More, Bacon, Clarendon, Wilmot, Mansfield, Hailes, Kaimes, &c. &c., 
with some living examples, which it might appear flattery to name, we 
might be afraid, in opposition to prejudices still almost as rooted as at the 
commencement of the sixteenth century, to assert, that great eminence 
and success in the law are compatible with wit, imagination, a cultivated 
taste, and an attachment to refined literature. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 15 

scrupulously inquiring into its circumstances, to ascertain 
whether justice was on the side on which he was to be 
retained; if he found it otherwise, he rejected the cause, 
whatever emolument might be held out to him, and what- 
ever opportunity it might afford for the display of his 
talents ; assuring the client, that he would not undertake 
" what he knew to be wrong, for all the wealth in the 
world." 

He frequently endeavoured to bring parties to an ac- 
commodation; and if in this friendly office he failed, he 
still pointed out the method by which the suit might be 
carried on with least expense. While he undertook and 
prosecuted the cause of the poor with peculiar alacrity and 
zeal, he refused the price which they were so ill able to 
pay for justice; and from the widow and the orphan he 
would accept no recompense but what such actions un- 
avoidably confer on a generous mind. # 

His talents and integrity having now raised him to high 
reputation, he was appointed, by the city of London, 
judge of the sheriff's court, an office then accounted 
very honourable. In this station his conduct soon made 
it be generally remarked, that no one had decided so 
many causes in so short a space, or given such universal 
satisfaction by his decisions. At that period it was cus- 
tomary for the contending parties, previous to trial, to pay 
into court an established fee, which formed the perquisite 
of the judge; but More, whenever the circumstances of the 
party seemed to require it, remitted this fee, being deter- 
mined that no one should be aggrieved while seeking the 
redress of his wrongs. While this disinterestedness, a 
virtue in public men which of all others most excites the 
popular admiration, added greatly to his fame, the re- 
turns of his profession fortunately kept pace with the 
liberality of his disposition. From his practice and office 
he derived an income of four hundred pounds a-year; a 
sum to which, allowing for the depreciation of money, six 
* Roper, p. 5. 



l(j SIR THOMAS MORE. 

times the amount would, in the present day, be scarcely 
more than equivalent. # 

Yet, amidst the continual hurry of business in which he 
was involved, his active and indefatigable mind still found 
opportunity to devote some portion of his time to literary 
pursuits. In his earlier years, he had attached himself to 
compositions in verse ; and, at a more mature period, he 
had laboured with much assiduity to acquire an elegant 
style in prose. In declamations, or speeches on various 
subjects, which in that age were a favourite species of 
composition, he often exercised his talents, and both wrote 
and delivered them with great applause. y His more 
laboured pieces were all composed in Latin ; and, if they 
are somewhat deficient in grace and ease, -we must make 
great allowances for him and the other writers of his time, 
who, from the rudeness of the languages in which they 
thought and usually spoke, were obliged to compose in a 
tongue acquired only from books. 

It was during this period that he commenced a history of 
the two very short reigns which passed during his own in- 
fancy, those of Edward V. and Bichard III. On a work 
which suddenly breaks off in the middle of the narrative, 
and which can, therefore, be considered only as a frag- 
ment, it would be unfair to make particular comments, 
since the style must be accounted as unfinished as the 
argument. Its accuracy, however, seems amply to com- 
pensate for the want of elegance, since it has been copied 
by all succeeding historians, as the most authentic docu- 
ment of the period to which it relates. J It is much to be 
regretted that a historian, on whose veracity and judgment 
the most implicit dependence could be placed, did not con- 

* Roper, p. 5. f Erasm. torn. L, c. 266., edit. 1703. 

$ Such is the observation of Mr. Hume, in his History of England, 
note (K) vol. iii., 8vo. edit. In note (M) he opposes to all other contra- 
dictory accounts "the narrative of Sir Thomas More, whose singular 
magnanimity, probity, and judgment, make him an evidence beyond 
all exception. No historian, either of ancient or modern times, can pos- 
sibly have more weight..*' 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 17 

tinue his narrative through those events which fell imme- 
diately under his own observation. But More seems to 
have found greater delight in forming a kingdom of his 
own, for it was during this active period of his life that he 
wrote his most laboured and elegant work, the Utopia. 

The Utopia is a philosophical romance, in which More, 
after the manner of Plato, erects an imaginary republic, 
arranges a society in a form entirely new, and endows it 
with institutions more likely to secure its happiness than 
any which mankind have hitherto experienced. But, with 
an improvement on the model of Plato, the republic of the 
Utopians assumes an actual existence : it is discovered by 
an adventurous navigator in a distant part of the new 
hemisphere, where it had for many ages continued to flou- 
rish ; and More only communicates to the world what he 
learned from the narrative of this intelligent eye-witness. 
The work is divided into two books, of which the first is 
occupied by a dialogue, containing a number of strictures 
on the most prominent defects in the political institutions 
of the old world. The pleasing manner in which this part 
of the work is written, the felicity of the style, the ele- 
gance of the satire, the acuteness of the remarks on men 
and manners, the freedom and manliness of the opinions, 
would have raised it to distinction in any age ; but, in the 
rude and ignorant period when it appeared, they entitle it 
to high admiration. Similar praise is due to various pas- 
sages in the second part, where the country, the manners, 
and the political institutions of the Utopians are described. 
Yet while we allow much to the ingenuity, much to the 
judgment of the author, it must be acknowledged that 
many of the laws and practices of this new republic are by 
no means improvements ; that the author has been more 
successful in exposing defects than in providing remedies ; 
and that his regulations are often fitted rather for the 
beings of his own fancy, than for those with whom the 
Creator has peopled this world. # 

* As this performance drew, in a particular manner, on More the at- 

C 



18 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

The reputation which More derived from the Utopia was 
proportioned to its merit. A philosophical romance, writ- 
ten in the language and with the spirit of an ancient 
Roman, was received with wonder and enthusiasm by the 
eager cultivators of ancient learning. He was greeted with 
poetical encomiums, and loaded with panegyrical epistles 
of immeasurable length. * With so much skill and appa- 
rent simplicity are the dialogue and the narrative conduct- 
ed, that many persons considered them as real. Some 
envious critics even went so far as to affirm, that Hythlo- 
dseus (the traveller who relates these wonders) had not only 
furnished the materials, but had dictated the whole from 
beginning to end ; while More, who now carried off all the 
reputation, had acted as a mere amanuensis. It is even 
said that some zealous Catholics, moved by the virtues of 
the Utopians, had serious thoughts of embarking in an 
attempt to achieve the good work of their conversion. 

While the reception of his Utopia extended the literary 
reputation of More, both at home and abroad, he began 
to be regarded, not only as a zealous cultivator, but as a 
liberal patron, of literature. Scholars did not then, as 
now, derive the pecuniary rewards of their labours from 
the sale of their works : the number of readers was too 
small, and the expense, both of publishing and circulating 
books, in the infancy of printing and commerce, too great, 
to afford, in this way, almost any returns to an author. 
Every one, therefore, who, without patrimony or some 
lucrative profession, devoted himself to literature, was 
obliged to have recourse, even for the means of subsist- 

tention of his contemporaries, and contributed in no small degree to ex- 
tend his fame ; as it affords a curious display of his views respecting many 
moral and political topics ; and as, in our times, while the Utopia is fa- 
miliarly spoken of by every man, little is generally known of it beyond 
the name ; the reader will probably be desirous of some further account 
of the work. I have, therefore, subjoined a short sketch of it in Appen- 
dix (A), where also will be found some particulars of More's other 
writings. 
* See Stapleton, Vita Thomae Mori, p. 184. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 19 

ence, to the bounty of the wealthy. Reduced to the ne- 
cessity of perpetually stimulating their languid generosity 
by assiduous court, by fulsome dedications, and long flat- 
tering epistles, even the most dexterous and importunate 
frequently failed in obtaining their precarious reward ; and 
celebrated scholars had often scarcely bread to eat.* In 
such times, even the comparatively limited fortune of 
More, by occasionally relieving the necessities of men of 
genius, was capable of affording essential service to litera- 
ture ; while his liberality, overstepping the limits of pru- 
dence, often ministered to the wants of destitute scholars, 
without regarding the pressure of his own difficulties. f 

Nor was he prevented by his professional pursuits from 
cultivating an acquaintance with almost all the more emi- 
nent literary characters of his age. Of those within his 
reach he enjoyed occasionally the conversation ; with others 
at a distance he maintained a regular correspondence. In 
that age, various circumstances contributed to render epis- 
tolary intercourse a favourite practice with scholars. Des- 
titute of those helps which a ready access to books now 
affords, they were doubly anxious to observe the progress 

* It is with sentiments of deep regret that we must peruse the account 
of the difficulties under which these early cultivators of learning, to 
whom the world owes so much, continually laboured. The distresses of 
Erasmus, the finest genius of his age, who contributed so much to free 
the human mind from darkness and bondage, are peculiarly affecting. 
We are shocked to find him receiving, with joy, from a casual contribu- 
tor, a few pieces of money. We are still more shocked to observe the 
effect of his difficulties in blunting his finer feelings. He seems at 
length to have considered mankind at large as a sordid race, on whom, 
callous as they were to the claims of merit, he was entitled to levy con- 
tributions by any means in his power, short of dishonesty. Hence we 
find him perpetually assailing the purses of his more wealthy friends with 
the most urgent solicitations, demanding sometimes a sum of money, 
sometimes a horse, which he made no scruple to sell as soon as he had 
received it. Though occasionally repulsed with very little ceremony, 
yet he often found this importunity successful, and was enabled to keep 
his horses, and drink his old wine, — comforts necessary for his weak con- 
stitution. But for these what a price did he pay ! — See Jortin's Life of 
Erasmus, 
t Erasm. Epist. 605. 

c2 



20 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

of each other, and to profit by the attainments of the most 
successful. Yet the expense, the difficulty, and even the 
insecurity of passing from one country to another, rendered 
their personal interviews very unfrequent, and letters were 
almost their only means of communication. But, from the 
want of regular posts, even this mode of communication 
was rendered very uncertain ; and if they missed the op- 
portunity of occasional couriers, they could transmit their 
letters only by the expensive conveyance of special mes- 
sengers. 1 ^ This made their epistles extend to a length of 
which, in the present age, we can have no idea: the 
writers were anxious to crowd into a single letter a multi- 
plicity of observations, and to draw forth, by their ques- 
tions, a variety of information. A letter sometimes in- 
cluded the discussion of a whole controversy, the defence 
of particular opinions, and the refutation of adversaries. 
The number of such Latin epistles, or rather dissertations, 
which a literary man would write in the course of his life, 
is astonishing. Those of Erasmus, if we may judge from 
the many hundreds which are still preserved, must have 
amounted to several thousands ; and if the remaining let- 
ters of More are less numerous, some of them, by their 
prodigious length, prove that he yielded to few in episto- 
lary exertion. 

More's chief literary correspondent, and most valued 
friend, was the celebrated Erasmus. These two were 
reputed the most elegant scholars, as well as the greatest 
wits, of their time. Frank, open, and animated, fond of 
indulging themselves in the most unrestrained freedom 
of conversation, and ready to extract amusement from 
almost every occurrence of life, their dispositions were 
remarkably congenial. f Before an opportunity occurred 

* Erasmus found himself under the necessity of retaining a number of 
young men to carry to different parts his numerous letters, and receive 
the gratuities of his friends. — Jortin, vol. i., p. 18. 

f If we may judge from the pictures of Holbein, they also bore, both 
in the form ?.nd expression of their countenances, a striking resemblance 
to each other. Their similarity, in other respects was noticed by their 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 21 

of meeting, they had long, by report and correspondence, 
known and admired each other ; and as their genius, their 
manners, their studies were alike, their first personal 
intercourse produced a friendship both warm and perma- 
nent. # Untinctured by the jealousy so often excited by 
similarity of pursuits, they admired and extolled each 
other ; and, in spite of the arts of ill-designing persons, 
who envied their acquirements and fame, their attachment 
continued unabated to the end of their lives. Erasmus, 
whenever an opportunity occurs, seems to dwell with 

contemporaries, as Erasmus informs us in the following passage, so 
elegant and so complimentary to More. It occurs in a letter to his 
correspondent, Richard Whitford — " Latine declamare ccepi, idque im- 
pulsore Thoma Moro, cujus, uti scis, tanta est facundia, ut nihil non 
possit persuadere vel hosti : tanta autem hominem caritate complector, 
ut etiam si saltare me, restimque ductare jubeat, sim non gravatim 
obtemperaturus. Neque enim arbitror, nisi me vehemens in ilium fallit 
amor, unquam naturam fmxisse ingenium hoc uno praesentius, promptius, 
occulatius, argutius, breviterque dotibus omnigenis absolutius. Accedit 
lingua ingenio par, turn morum mira festivitas, salis plurimum, sed 
candidi duntaxat ; ut nihil in eo desideres quod ad absolutum pertineat 
patronum. Hortor autem ut et Moricam conferas, itaque judices, num 
quid in stylo sit discriminis inter nos, quos tu ingenio, moribus, affec- 
tibus, studiis, usque adeo similes esse dicere solebas, ut negares ullos 
gemellos magis inter se similes reperiri posse." — Erasmi Opera, torn. i. 
c 266. 

* A story is related of More's first interview with Erasmus, which, 
although doubted by Jortin, ought perhaps to be mentioned, as it is 
repeated by nearly all the writers of More's life. When Erasmus came 
to England for the first time, it is said to have been contrived by the 
person who conducted him over, that he and More should meet, without 
either of them knowing of it, at the lord mayor's table, which was then 
open to literary men of every nation. A controversy happening to arise 
at dinner, Erasmus, according to a practice in those days, began to 
display his powers by defending the wrong side of the question. He 
was immediately opposed by More, and a brilliant display of wit and 
argument ensued between these antagonists. Erasmus, surprised to find 
himself so equally matched, a circumstance which perhaps had never 
occurred to him before, at length exclaimed with vehemence, "Aut tu 
Morus es, aut nullus : " to which More, equally surprised, replied, " Aut 
tu es Erasmus, aut Diabolus."— Stapleton, Vita Thomas Mori. More's 
Life, by his great-grandson, Thomas More, p. 82, edit. 1627. Hod- 
desdom p. 28, edit. 1662. 



22 SIR THOMAS MORE, 

particular delight on every thing relating to More, — his 
appearance, his manners, his habits, his accomplishments. 5 * 
The reputation of More for integrity, ability, and learn- 
ing, had, by this time, attracted the attention of Henry 
VIII. That prince, himself no mean scholar, according to 
the common rate of acquirements in that age, was pas- 
sionately desirous to obtain distinction by his learning, 
and eager to enj oy both the conversation and applause of 
the learned. But More, besides being so distinguished a 
scholar, had also proved his capacity for public business, 
both in adjusting some very intricate and important dis- 
putes between the English merchants and the foreign 

* In the following letter, where Erasmus describes his admired friend, 
in a letter to Hutten, if some of the particulars are so minute as to 
excite a smile, they fully show the high value which the writer enter- 
tained for More, and the interest with which he observed the most 
trifling circumstances connected with him. — "To begin with what is 
least known to you of More, his person is rather below than above the 
middle size, yet not so much as to be at all remarked ; while, so perfect is 
the symmetry of his limbs, that no part seems capable of improvement. 
His skin is fair; his complexion pale, yet in no respect sickly, but 
slightly tinged throughout with a delicate transparent red ; his hair ches- 
nut, his beard thin, his eyes light grey, interspersed with some specks, a 
colour which usually denotes a most happy disposition, and is even account- 
ed handsome among the British, while among our people (the Germans) 
black eyes are held in more esteem. The former imagine such eyes to 
indicate a character particularly free from all manner of vice. His coun- 
tenance, completely corresponding with his disposition, is expressive of 
an agreeable and friendly cheerfulness, with somewhat of a habitual 
inclination to smile ; and, to own the truth, appears more adapted to 
pleasantry than to gravity or dignity, although perfectly remote from 
vulgarity or silliness. From a boy, he was always most negligent of his 
outward appearance, and paid scarcely any attention to those things 
which the courtly Ovid seems to reckon the only cares worthy of men. 
From his present appearance at forty, I might conjecture that in his 
youth his person must have been graceful, had I not myself known him 
at the age of three-and-twenty. His constitution is rather good than 
robust ; and while it is capable of sustaining the fatigues of any liberal 
employment, it is liable to few or no diseases. He has every prospect ox 
being long-lived, since his father has attained a very advanced age, yet 
still remains fresh and vigorous. I never saw any one less nice in his 
choice of food. By a predilection derived from his father, water was, 
in his early years, his favourite drink ; but that he might not appear 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 23 

company of the Steel-yard, # and in the assistance which 
he afforded to Tonstall, bishop of Durham, during a 
mission to Flanders. f Henry having, on all these ac- 
counts, become eager to engage him in his service, com- 
manded Wolsey to make this wish known, and offer him 
a pension, as an earnest of future favours.]; But this 
proposal, which most other men would have fondly em- 
braced as a fair opening to wealth and honours, was 
viewed with very different eyes by More. 

To the life of a courtier he had many causes of insur- 
mountable dislike. Passionately fond of independence, 
he was most unwilling to look up to the precarious bounty 
of an arbitrary prince, for what he could better procure by 
the exercise of an honourable profession. As the ease, 
familiarity, and freedom which a man enjoys among his 
equals afforded him peculiar gratification, that constraint, 
formality, and constant attention to external show, which 
then, still more than now, infested courts, were no less 
his aversion. In his dress, which was simple, and even 
negligent to an unusual degree, § he used neither the silks, 
the scarlet, nor the ornaments of gold then in fashion 
among persons of his rank, unless when their omission 

singular or affected, he used to escape the notice of those who sat at 
table with him, by drinking water, or very small beer, out of a goblet. 
For the same reason, and that he might learn the general habits of 
society, he at times conformed to the custom of his countrymen, who 
drink by turns from the same vessel ; and on these occasions he prevailed 
on himself to touch the wine with his lips. He is much fonder of those 
kinds of fare which are accounted coarse and common, than of the 
delicacies employed by the luxurious to stimulate the appetite. The 
most simple diet, milk and fruit, he prefers to the highest flavoured 
dishes on his table ; so that his taste in food, like his other desires, 
seems to be formed by nature for simplicity and moderation. His voice 
is neither remarkably powerful nor weak, but readily heard ; and is 
extremely distinct, yet by no means soft or melodious ; for although he 
is remarkably fond of music, nature seems to have given him no powers 
for singing. His pronunciation is uncommonly plain and articulate, 
without either hurry or hesitation." — Erasm. Epist. 447. 

* lloper, p. 5. f Roper, p. 13. More, p. 39. 

t Roper, p. 5. More, p. 38. § More, p. 27- 



24 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

might have been construed into disrespect.* Still more 
indifferent to formalities of all sorts, and accounting a 
minute and constant attention to such trifles unworthy of a 
man, he was not solicitous to address others, and still less 
anxious to be addressed, with the studied terms and 
gestures which custom had prescribed.f So far only did 
he conform to fashionable usage, as to avoid the imputa- 
tion of singularity, a trespass which, in his opinion, in- 
dicated no less vanity and weakness than a frivolous 
precision in imitating the prevailing modes. J To a person 
of such habits and such opinions, what could be more 
irksome than the ceremony of a court just escaped from 
barbarism, and still labouring under the cumbrous appen- 
dages of feudal pageantry ? 

Nor was he less deterred from entering the king's 
service by that constant attendance which the monarchs 
of that age required from their ministers and courtiers. 
Though much occupied by the business of his profession, 
he still found means to spend some portion of almost 
every day in the bosom of his family, the scene of his 
most valued enjoyments. Having, soon after his appear- 
ance at the bar, married a lady of a good family, but very 
young, and entirely unacquainted with the world, he had 
studiously formed the manners and ideas of his companion 
for life to a correspondence with his own. Carefully 
instructed by her zealous tutor in polite literature, in 
music, in whatever seemed necessary to improve or adorn 
her mind, she became a woman in whose society he might 
have spent the remainder of his days with delight. But 
Providence had determined otherwise : she died at an 
early age, after having brought him several children, of 
whom a son and three daughters survived her.§ 

The care of his family, to which it was impossible he 
could attend amidst the perpetual distractions of business, 
did not permit him to remain long a widower. His second 

* Erasm. Epist. 447. t Ibid. £ More, p. 28. 

§ Erasm. Epist. 447. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 25 

wife was a widow, already well advanced in years, and 
retaining no very striking indications of early beauty, but 
remarkable for her dexterity in the management of family 
affairs. Although she was little endowed with any quality 
which could excite attachment, he behaved to her with 
the same complacency as if she had been both amiable 
and young ; and by his kind and playful manner, procured 
from her a more ready and complete obedience than was 
ever obtained by the rude and repulsive tone of command. 
Though Mrs. More was now beyond the prime of life, of 
a temper by no means tractable, and remarkably solicitous 
about her domestic affairs, he prevailed on her to take 
lessons on several of his favourite musical instruments, 
and regularly devote a portion of every day to these 
accomplishments.* 

In the intervals of business, the education of his children 
formed his principal avocation, as well as his greatest 
pleasure. His son, whose faculties seemed, by nature, 
little capable of cultivation, proved a remarkable instance 
of what may be effected by careful instruction. By 
methods adapted to his capacity, he acquired a com- 
petent knowledge both of literature and business ; and 
became respectable, not only as a man of worth, but as a 
member of the community, and the head of a family. 
But it was in the accomplishments of his daughters 
that More found the most gratifying reward of his cares. 
His opinions respecting female education are distinctly 
related by Erasmus, and differed very widely from what 
the comparative rudeness of that age might have led us to 
expect. By nothing, he justly thought, is female virtue 
so much endangered as by idleness, and the necessity of 
amusement; nor against these is there any safeguard so 
effectual as an attachment to literature. Some security is 
indeed afforded by a diligent application to various sorts 
of female employments ; yet these, while they employ the 
hands, give but partial occupation to the mind. But 
* Erasm. Epist. 447- 



26 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

well-chosen books at once engage the thoughts, refine the 
taste, strengthen the understanding, and confirm the mo- 
rals. Female virtue, informed by the knowledge which 
they impart, is placed on the most secure foundations, 
while all the milder affections of the heart, partaking in 
the improvement of the taste and fancy, are refined and 
matured. More was no convert to the notion, that the 
possession of knowledge has the effect of rendering women 
less pliant : nothing, in his opinion, was so untractable as 
ignorance. Although to manage with skill the ordinary 
detail of feeding and clothing a family be an essential 
portion in the duties of a wife and a mother; yet, to 
secure the affections of a husband during the continued 
and permanent intercourse of the married state, he judged 
it no less indispensable to possess the qualities of an 
intelligent and agreeable companion. Nor ought a hus- 
band, if he regards his own happiness, to turn aside with 
fastidious negligence from the task of repairing the usual 
defects of female education. Never can he hope to be so 
truly beloved, esteemed, and respected, as when his wife 
confides in him as her friend, and looks up to him as her 
instructor.^ 

Such were the opinions, with regard to female educa- 
tion, which More maintained in discourse, and supported 
by his practice. His daughters, rendered proficients in 
music, and other elegant accomplishments proper for their 
sex, were also instructed in Latin, the only language in 
which, at that period, a more refined literature was to be 
found. Their progress corresponded with the zeal of their 
father, since they read, wrote, and conversed in the lan- 
guage of Rome with equal facility and correctness. When 
compelled by business to be absent from home, he maintain- 
ed a frequent intercourse by letter with his children, receiv- 
ing from them an account of every step in their progress, 
and giving them, in return, such instructions as seemed 
most requisite to their improvement.^ With their tutors, 
* Erasm. Epist. 605. f Stapleton, p. 257- More, p. 131. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 27 

also, he maintained a correspondence equally regular; 
and while he expressed his obligations to them for culti- 
vating the abilities of his children, he besought them 
always to recollect, that learning was valuable only as 
subservient to the conduct of life, and the improvement of 
the heart.* He entreated that any appearance of osten- 
tation and vanity in his daughters might be checked ; and 
that their superior knowledge might not be allowed to 
destroy that unassuming manner which is among the first 
of female virtues, or to produce a pedantry which is no 
less intolerable than ignorance. Their knowledge, he felt 
assured, would, as it extended, teach them rather to be 
humble than proud, since it would show them how little 
they knew, how much they had to learn; while the 
refinement of their taste would contribute to harmonize 
their affections, and shed a more exquisite gentleness over 
their manners.^ The effects resulting from this assiduous 
attention soon became conspicuous; and the School of 
More, as it was termed, attracted general admiration. 

In the mean time, Mrs. More, their stepmother, a no- 
table economist, by distributing tasks of which she re- 
quired a punctual performance, took effectual precautions 
that they should not remain unacquainted with female 
works, and with the internal management of a family. For 
all these purposes, which together appear so far beyond 
the ordinary industry of women, their time was found 
amply sufficient, because no part of it was wasted in idle- 
ness or trifling amusements. Erasmus, from whom we 
derive these particulars, and who was often an inmate of 
this family, captivated with the easy manners, the ani- 
mated conversation, the extraordinary accomplishments of 
these young ladies, could not help owning himself a com- 
plete convert to More's sentiments of female education. 
Yet, while he admired their improvement and shared in 

* Letter to Gurmal, in Stapleton, p. 253. 

f Some of the letters of More, which throw great light on his sentt- 
meuts concerning education, are inserted in Appendix (B). 



28 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

the pleasures it diffused, he could not help remarking one 
day to his friend, how severe a calamity it would be if 
such accomplished beings, whom he had so painfully and 
successfully laboured to improve, should happen to be 
snatched away ! " If they are to die," replied More, 
without hesitation, " I would rather have them die well- 
informed than ignorant." — "This reply," continues Eras- 
mus, " reminded me of a saying of Phocion, whose wife, 
as he was about to drink the poison according to his 
sentence, exclaimed, ' Ah ! my husband, you die inno- 
cent!' — 'And would you, my wife/ he rejoined, 'rather 
have me die guilty ? ' " # 

More's family lived in a house which he had built at 
Chelsea, on a large scale, but with more attention to com- 
fort than splendour. It was surrounded with gardens ex- 
tending to the Thames,f and in adorning and beautifying 
these, a work which he himself superintended, he found 
incessant employment for that train of servants whom the 
custom of the age obliged persons of his rank to maintain, 
and who, by their idle habits, usually contributed to diffuse 
corruption. J His taste for natural history, and for observ- 
ing the instincts of various animals, afforded them another 
source of constant occupation. His collection, which he 
had procured with much labour and expense, was disposed 
in such a manner, that the eye of the guest, on entering 
the approach to his house, was every where amused with 
rare birds, quadrupeds, and other natural curiosities. § If 
any of his servants discovered a taste for reading, or an 
ear for music, he allowed them to cultivate their favourite 
pursuit. To preclude all improper conversation before 
children and servants at table, a domestic was accustomed 
to read aloud certain passages, so selected as to amuse at 

* Erasm. Epist. 605. 

f This house was situated at the north end of Beaufort-row, extend- 
ing westward, at the distance of about a hundred yards from the Thames. 
Lysons' Environs of London, vol. ii.., p. 80. 

% Hoddesdon, p. 30. § Erasm. Epist. 447- 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 29 

the time, and to afford matter for much entertaining con- 
versation.* " I would call this house," says Erasmus, 
"the academy of Plato, were it not injustice to compare 
it to a place where the usual disputations concerning 
figures and numbers were only occasionally interspersed 
with disquisitions about the moral virtues. A house, in 
which every one studies the liberal sciences, where the 
principal care is virtue and piety, where idleness never 
appears, where intemperate language is never heard, where 
regularity and order are preserved by mere dint of kindness 
and courtesy, where every one performs his duty, and yet 
all are so cheerful, as if mirth were their only employ- 
ment, — such a house ought rather to be termed a practical 
school of the Christian religion, "-j- 

Much of the happiness of M ore's family, of its perpetual 
good humour and unbroken harmony, is to be attributed 
to his own peculiar felicity of temper. His son-in-law, 
Mr. Roper, who lived in his house for sixteen years, assures 
us that, during all that period, his countenance was never 
seen clouded, nor his voice altered with anger.J Disap- 
pointments, even when serious, he received with unruffled 
composure, and his reproofs of negligence or misconduct 
were either very innocent raillery, or mild, though serious, 
admonition. This tranquillity and kindness, diffusing 
themselves over his family, every thing was there con- 
ducted with gentleness, and the loud language of anger 
and reproach altogether banished. As any trifling quarrel, 
which happened accidentally to arise, was, by a general 
interference, immediately adjusted, none of those little 
sources of ill-humour, which often destroy the peace of 
families more than circumstances of a more serious nature, 
were suffered to rankle and breed new dissensions. Mrs. 
More, acquiring from the influence of such humanizing 
habits a benevolence little to be expected from the natural 
asperity of her temper, behaved to her step-daughters with 

* Stapleton, p. 250. Hoddesdon, p. 30. 

+ Farrago Epist. lib. 27, cited in Stapleton, p. 247- £ Roper, p. 13. 



30 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

the same kindness, and was in return beloved by them 
with the same sincerity, as if she had been their mother. 
When the son and daughters were at length married, as 
the family could not endure the idea of separation, More 
contrived to accommodate the whole in his own house, as 
well as eleven grandchildren, who were, in time, the fruit 
of their marriages. It contained, besides, a step-daughter 
by his second wife, and an orphan girl, whom he had gene- 
rously educated along with his daughters, and who well 
deserved the bounty she received. The unsullied repu- 
tation and prosperity of the family were no less conspicuous 
than its harmony. "The happiness of that house," says^ 
Erasmus, " seems secured by a law of fate : no one has 
lived in it without having his condition improved ; no one 
has had a stain thrown on his reputation. " # 

The pleasures of this domestic circle were enlivened by 
a continual succession of learned and ingenious visitors, 
whom the reputation, the wit, the hospitality of More, 
drew around him. " By no one," says Erasmus, " are 
friendships more readily formed, more diligently cultivated, 
more steadfastly retained. If he discovers any one, with 
whom he has formed an intimacy, to be irreclaimably 
vicious, he gradually discontinues the intimacy, but never 
breaks it off in an abrupt or mortifying manner. On the 
other hand, it is in the intercourse of those friends whose 
dispositions prove congenial to his own, that the chief 
delight of his life seems to be placed. An utter enemy to 
gaming, and all those unmeaning amusements by which 
the idle part of society endeavour to escape from the 
insupportable languor of existence, his leisure hours are 
spent in the conversation of a society where his own 
politeness, ease, and vivacity, diffuse universal good hu- 
mour and gaiety. Careless of his own affairs, he is ever 
most assiduous in the service of his friends ; and, to sum 
up his character in a few words, if the pattern of a perfect 
friend be required, let it be sought for in More."f From 
* Erasm Epist. 447- + Ibid. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 31 

the society which he thus collected around him, he was 
careful to banish whatever might encroach upon its free- 
dom or cheerfulness. Regardless of that estimation which 
men of his rank and station so eagerly sought from giving 
sumptuous and ceremonious entertainments to the great 
nobles, he enjoyed in the society of his friends and neigh- 
bours an intercourse the more agreeable, as it was wholly 
unembarrassed by restraint.* As he possessed, in an 
eminent degree, the faculty of conducting an argument 
with spirit, yet with mildness, and of appeasing the angry 
feelings of others by some happy stroke of humour, the 
conversation at his table was always interesting, and 
often brilliant.f 

That More should have been unwilling to abandon, for 
the j oyless ceremonies of a court, a society so captivating, 
and which owed to himself the whole structure of its hap- 
piness, cannot excite our surprise. The care with which 
he watched over its enj oyments is expressed with much 
feeling in an epistle, where he excuses himself to a friend 
for some delay in the completion of his Utopia. — " While 
I am continually engaged in the business of my profession, 
in pleading some causes, in hearing others, in settling 
some as arbitrator, and in deciding others as judge ; while 
I am under the necessity of paying a visit of business to 
one, and a visit of courtesy to another ; while I thus de- 
vote nearly the whole of the day abroad to others, and the 
remainder to my family at home, I leave for myself, that 
is, for literature, no time at all. For when I return home, 
I must needs converse with my wife, trifle with my chil- 
dren, talk with my servants. All these I account matters 
of business, since they cannot be avoided, unless a man 
should choose to be a stranger in his own family. It is, 
besides, as indispensable to our happiness as to our duty, 
to render ourselves, by every means in oar power, agree- 
able to those whom either nature, or chance, or our own 
choice, has rendered the companions of our lives. Let us 
* More, p. 149. f Roper, p. 13. 



32 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

be cautious only not to spoil them by too much compli- 
ance, or, by over-indulgence, to convert those who should 
obey us into our masters. " # 

But, besides the loss. of domestic enjoyments, the pene- 
tration of More discovered other forcible reasons for 
declining the proffered favours of his sovereign. He knew 
how vain it was to oppose reason to the passions of an 
arbitrary prince, and he felt his integrity too stubborn and 
unaccommodating to utter what would please, in opposi- 
tion to his conviction. In the present improved state of 
our political constitution, the monarch often finds it neces- 
sary, from the influence of public opinion, to appoint and 
retain in office persons who would otherwise by no means 
be his choice. If resolved to give way to his dislike or 
resentment, he can merely deprive the minister of his rank 
and emoluments ; while the statesman out of place always 
finds a considerable and active Opposition ready to receive 
him. By a well-directed exertion of his talents he may 
still hope to render himself formidable to the court, and 
even to regain the situation of which he has been deprived. 
But, in the age of More, the statesman, as he owed his 
elevation solely to the personal favour of the monarch, 
sunk, as soon as it was withdrawn, into obscurity and 
neglect, unless unhappily destined to a severer fate. If 
conspicuous either for his talents, or the influence which 
he had enjoyed, his successors, fearful lest he might, to 
their ruin, regain the favour he had lost, too often em- 
ployed every art to inflame the resentment of his sove- 
reign, and accomplish his final destruction. And if the 
king could be brought to consent to the death of a de- 
graded minister, it was only necessary to bring an accusa- 
tion, founded on some act which he had sanctioned in 
compliance with the express commands of his monarch, 
or perhaps on allegations altogether false. Debarred, by 
the barbarous customs of that age, from pleading in his 
own defence, from producing the witnesses of his innocence, 
* Morus ad iEgidium. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 33 

or confronting his accusers, he could only look forward to 
certain condemnation ; while an obsequious parliament 
or trembling jury, however convinced of his innocence, 
would not venture to thwart the will of the sovereign. 

These unfortunate circumstances, calculated to render 
the authority and life of an upright statesman so precarious 
under any monarch, were greatly aggravated by the 
capricious and ungovernable disposition of Henry VIII. 
Susceptible of violent passions, from the natural warmth of 
his temper, he had become habituated, by the arbitrary 
power placed early in his hands, to give way, without 
control, to their successive impulses. The passion of the 
moment seemed wholly to engross his faculties, and no 
consideration of morality or prudence could restrain him 
from pursuing its gratification. His attachments and 
friendships were uncommonly ardent while they lasted ; 
but his desires were no sooner attracted by some new 
objects, than all remembrance of his former inclinations 
seemed to be obliterated. The most beloved wife, and 
the most favourite minister, if they stood in the way of 
his new propensity, were, with callous indifference, hur- 
ried to the scaffold. 

To More, who had imbibed, from the authors of Greece 
and Rome, sentiments of manly freedom, the degradation, 
no less than the danger, of such a precarious dependence 
on the will of an arbitrary monarch, was deeply repug- 
nant. After many earnest entreaties, therefore, to be ex- 
cused from accepting the favours intended him, (for it was 
dangerous to refuse even the invitations of Henry, unless 
in the humble form of a request,) the king was graciously 
pleased to dispense, for the present, with his attendance. 

But the ability displayed in the management of a cause, 
which attracted much public notice, soon afterwards gave 
an additional lustre to More's reputation. A large ship of 
the pope's having been seized in the port of Southampton 
by the king's officers, was reclaimed on the part of his 
holiness ; and More, on account both of his professional 

D 



34 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

celebrity, and his thorough acquaintance with Latin, which 
enabled him readily to explain the arguments on both sides 
to the Roman legate, was selected to plead in favour of its 
restoration. The claim was argued before the lord chan- 
cellor, and all the judges in the star chamber: the ex- 
ertions of More were crowned with success, and Henry, 
still more strongly incited by this new display of talents to 
engage him in his service, would no longer admit of an 
excuse. # More, however reluctant, being compelled to 
submit, was appointed master of the requests, the best 
place which, at the moment, happened to be vacant. He 
was soon afterwards created a knight and a privy-counsel- 
lor, and, in the following year, raised to the office of trea- 
surer of the exchequer, f 

Henry was greatly delighted with More. He found him 
not only a ready and penetrating counsellor in affairs of 
state, but thoroughly acquainted with literature and the 
sciences of the times. Astronomy, in that age a rude 
science, and still connected with the mysteries of astro- 
logy, had occasionally occupied the attention of More, and 
was held in peculiar esteem by Henry. It was, therefore, 
not unusual to observe the king and his minister stationed 
in the night on the roof of the palace, counting the stars, 
and tracing the forms of the constellations.^ But the 
subject most grateful to both, and which most frequently 
engaged their conversation, was theology. Henry, who 
greatly valued himself on his skill in polemical divinity, 
and who was at this time a most orthodox Romanist, had 
determined to exert his pen in defence of the papal throne 
against Luther, the arch-heretic, by whom it was now as- 
sailed. The treatise which he wrote on this occasion was 
arranged and corrected by More ;§ and whatever might be 
the respective shares of the king and the minister in the 
performance, to the former it procured, from the pope, the 

* Roper, p. 6. More; p. 43. f More, p 47- 

X Roper, p. 6. Stapleton, p. 171. More, p. 48. 
§ See a letter from More to Secretary Cromwell. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 35 

much-valued title of Defender of the Faith ; while, to the 
latter, it brought, for the present, an increase of royal 
favour. 

More, however, possessed talents of a very different 
description, which rendered him a favourite companion in 
the gayer moments of the king. We have seen that, even 
when a boy in the family of Cardinal Morton, he had dis- 
tinguished himself by an uncommon flow of vivacity and 
humour; and, as he advanced in years, these agreeable 
qualities seemed to increase. In his youth he wrote co- 
medies; and, according to the custom of the times, bore 
a part in their private representation. Of his epigrams, 
for which he had a particular talent, some are still pre- 
served. Lucian was his favourite author: he translated 
several of his dialogues ; and a letter sent to a friend, with 
a copy of the translation, shows his ardent admiration of 
that ingenious satirist.* The mind of Erasmus was cast 
nearly in the same mould ; and his ludicrous Encomium 
Morce was, as that author himself informs us, written at 
the suggestion of More, and dedicated to him as the 
proper patron of every thing humorous. Delighted with 
every stroke of wit, More was even satisfied to be himself 
its object, and did not refuse to join in a laugh raised at 
his own expense. Unless when some particular occasion 
required a more serious turn, his conversation with women 
was sportive and rallying. The severe study of the law, 
an incessant round of business, a strong tincture of devo- 
tion, and the austere penances in which he often exercised 
himself, diminished nothing of his natural vivacity and 
proneness to humour. Carelessness of wealth and ho- 
nours, conscious integrity, contempt of death, and full 
reliance on the promises of religion, joined to perfect free- 
dom from those malevolent and sinister purposes which 
cloud the countenances of men, left his mind at ease, and 
gave his temper a serenity and buoyancy which resisted 
every accident of fortune. Alive to all the beauties of 
* Morus ad Ruthalum. 

d2 



36 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 



nature or art, and equally sensible of their defects, his 
humour was keen, yet chastened by an unwillingness to 
offend ; while his vivacity, arising from a warm sensibi- 
lity, mingled with benevolence, was brilliant and inex- 
haustible. 

These qualities soon rendered the king's demands on his 
attendance incessant. If Henry was inclined to throw all 
care aside, and abandon himself to mirth in the company 
of the queen, as was often his practice, More never failed 
to be invited to the party. To a man of ambition and in- 
trigue, nothing could have been more desirable than this 
constant and familiar access to the sovereign, at those 
moments when restraint was banished, and his mind ren- 
dered pliant by hilarity. But as More had no private 
purposes to serve, these honours were, in his eyes, a very 
unequal compensation for the loss of ease and liberty. 
Unable to reconcile his disposition or his habits to the per- 
petual ceremonies and tasteless pageantry of a court, he 
compares himself to a man who, unaccustomed to ride, 
sits very awkwardly in his saddle. # Henry, aware of his 
witty favourite's attachment to freedom, used frequently, 
in his merry moods, to condole with him on the misery 
(whimsical enough, as he no doubt imagined) of being 
dragged to court, and chained to the company of his 
prince. More finding, at length, that he could scarcely 
steal one evening in a month, to enjoy himself at home 
with his family in that intercourse which formed the great 
pleasure of his life, had recourse to an innocent stratagem. 
He abstained from any open expression of chagrin, but 
began gradually, and without exciting observation, to re- 
frain from his usual facetiousness at the royal parties ; and 
his company, being found less entertaining, was in time 
less required. f 

Of the share which More had in the public measures of 
that period, the information which has reached us is 
extremely imperfect. Plans of policy, in that age, were 

* Stapleton, p. 229. More, p. 45. f JEtoper, p. 7- Stapleton, 171. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 3/ 

much less important and systematic than those to which 
we are now accustomed : they were hardly ever discussed 
before the legislature ; and the counsels given by each 
minister, being usually accounted among the mysteries of 
state, were seldom publicly known. The measures of each 
reign are, for the most part, indiscriminately attributed by 
historians to the monarch, and the minister is often de- 
frauded of his due tribute of applause. The chief direction 
of affairs was at this time in the hands of Cardinal Wolsey ; 
a man who, to great talents and consummate address, 
joined a vanity which no applause could satiate, and an 
ambition which grasped beyond even his exorbitant power. 
Conscious of the tenure by which he held his authority, he 
readily stooped to any concession which could secure the 
favour of his prince ; but while desirous that Henry should 
consider himself the constant and only source of those 
measures, which flowed in fact from his uncontrouled 
minister, he was no less solicitous to impress on the world 
a very different opinion. In private he communicated his 
intentions to the monarch in the most submissive and art- 
ful terms, seeming to follow where in fact he led ,• but in 
the eyes of the public he gave his acts every appearance of 
unrestrained and independent authority. Aware that the 
lofty pretensions of the son of an Ipswich butcher pro- 
duced rather astonishment than respect among the people, 
he endeavoured to dazzle them by his splendour, and 
abash them by his arrogance. 

With a man of this description More could have few 
opinions, and still fewer sentiments, in common: but sen- 
sible that any decided opposition would have been fruitless, 
he confined himself almost exclusively to the duties of his 
office, w T hich he discharged with unremitting zeal. But if 
he found it vain to resist many measures which he disap- 
proved, we may conclude that he w T as guilty of no impro- 
per compliance, since, during his continuance in office, his 
reputation for integrity increased both with the prince and 
the people. When measures, wdiich to him appeared ex- 



38 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

ceptionable, were proposed, he made no scruple to express 
his opinion of them ; a conduct far from agreeable to Wol- 
sey, who was willing enough to make use of his abilities, 
but by no means satisfied to encounter his opposition. On 
one occasion, it is said, that the cardinal, with much self- 
complacency, laid before him the draught of a measure 
which he was about to carry into execution, and requested 
his sentiments freely on every part of it. More, having 
attentively considered it, began, with his usual sincerity, 
to point out some things to be suppressed, others to be 
amended, others to be added ; till at length, Wolsey, un- 
able to suppress his mortification and wrath, asked him if 
he was not ashamed to prove himself a fool, by objecting 
to what all the other wise men of the council had approved ? 
" Thanks be to God/' replied More gravely, " that the 
king's majesty hath but one fool in his right honourable 
council !" # 

But while he seems to have been little ambitious to inter- 
fere with affairs of state, his influence on national improve- 
ment was both conspicuous and important. Convinced 
that nothing could more essentially promote the extension 
of knowledge and refinement than the diffusion of those 
treasures which had been saved from the wreck of. anti- 
quity, he employed all the weight which he possessed, 
either from his own reputation or the favour of his prince, 
to excite a general enthusiasm for the cultivation of ancient 
learning. While professed scholars, disgusted with the 
smallness of their pecuniary rewards, too frequently con- 
tributed to bring literary pursuits into utter disregard, by 
representing them as not only unprofitable, but ruinous, 
More took every opportunity to declare, that to literature 
he owed more confirmed health, a sounder mind, an am- 
pler fortune ; that, while he had thus acquired the favour 
of his prince, and conciliated the love of his family and the 
esteem of strangers, he had become more agreeable to his 
friends, more useful to his country, more adapted to the 
* More, p. 57- 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 39 

duties of every station, and, finally, more acceptable in 
the sight of Heaven. After the most difficult and impor- 
tant labours, he was found with the authors of Greece and 
Rome in his hands; while, at the same time, it was ob- 
served, that no man was more easy of access at all hours, 
more ready to oblige, more cheerful in company, or more 
polished in his manners. # 

These circumstances, when added to the example which 
More set in the education of his own family, were soon 
attended with the happiest consequences. That literature, 
which had hitherto, for the most part, been looked on as 
equally unfit for use or ornament, now became an object 
of more general attention, and a learned education began 
to be considered as a necessary appendage to rank.f The 
effects which his maxims and example produced on female 
education were peculiarly striking : the daughters of noble 
families began to vie with each other in literature, and 
those of More were only the first English ladies who could 
write and speak in the languages of Greece and Rome. 
The princesses Mary and Elizabeth, as well as their rela- 
tive the Lady Jane Grey, were educated along with their 
brother Edward; and if Mary, from habits already too 
confirmed, profited little by this instruction, its effects in 
imparting strength and dignity to the female mind were 
proved by Elizabeth on a throne, and by Jane on a scaf- 
fold. The happy consequences of the general diffusion of 
useful knowledge among females of distinction were soon 
felt and acknowledged. As mothers, they communicated 
their attainments to their children ; as the leaders of fashion, 
they rendered them the desire even of the gay and vain ; 
and the succeeding reign of Elizabeth became already an 
Augustan age of English literature. 

After holding the treasurership of the exchequer three 
years, More was, by the king's direction, chosen speaker 
of the house of commons.^ When that arbitrary mo- 
narch signified his pleasure on such occasions, neither the 
* Erasm. Epist 605. f Ibid - + Roper, p. 7- 



40 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

house durst refuse to appoint the person he nominated, 
nor the person nominated refuse the appointment. It was 
however, with much reluctance that More undertook the 
office. The speaker of the house of commons, in our 
times, holding a situation equally honourable and inde- 
pendent, since the court can neither control nor awe him, 
can act in security as a man of spirit and integrity. But 
under the reign of Henry VIII., the opposition between 
the demands of the court and the interests of his country, 
frequently placed him in the most disagreeable and dan- 
gerous situation. While, as a man of principle, it was 
often impossible to submit to the former; he was in dan- 
ger, if he ventured to maintain the latter, of incurring his 
own ruin, without any benefit to his country. 

These difficulties were experienced by More, almost 
immediately after his appointment. The king, reduced by 
his extravagance to great straits, having demanded a large 
supply, Wolsey, who knew that the commons, though 
abundantly compliant in almost every other respect, were 
often very determined in their refusal of money, especially 
when they did not approve the manner of expending it, 
resolved, in hopes of overawing the members, to be pre- 
sent at the moving of the question. With this view, he 
repaired in state to the house ; and having shown, in a 
solemn speech, the necessity of the supply, concluded 
with requiring an immediate answer to the king's demand. 
The house, however, irritated at this extraordinary stretch 
of power, and resolved not to be thus deprived of their 
right of deliberation, received his commands in profound 
silence ; and though he successively addressed himself to 
each of the most considerable members, none of them 
could be induced to reply. Enraged at this treatment, 
which appeared to him contemptuous, he told them that 
the obstinacy of their silence was astonishing, unless, per- 
haps, their custom was to reply only by their speaker ; in 
which case he now made the same demand to him, which 
he had already made to the whole house. More, desir- 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 41 

ous rather to elude this ill-timed requisition than to urge 
matters to an extremity, apologized, with great apparent 
reverence, for the conduct of the members, abashed, as 
they must be, by the presence of so noble and extraordi- 
nary a personage. He showed that to return an answer to 
his majesty's message by any other persons, how great 
soever, than some of their own members, was contrary to 
the ancient privileges of the house ; and he concluded by 
humbly declaring that, though all the members had en- 
trusted him with their voices, yet, unless they could also 
put their several judgments into his head, he alone was 
not able, in so weighty a matter, to make a proper reply 
to his grace. This evasive answer was far from satisfying 
the haughty cardinal, who hastily rose up, and, in great 
wrath, quitted the house.* 

More generally found his wit and thorough command 
of temper the most effectual defence against Wolsey, who 
was, to the last degree, impatient of contradiction. A few 
days after this transaction in the house of commons, the 
cardinal happening to meet with him, complained loudly 
of his behaviour, and at length exclaimed, " Would to 
God you had been at Rome, Mr. More, when I made you 
speaker ! " — " Your grace not offended/' replied the other, 
" so would I too ; for then I should have seen an ancient 
and famous city, which I have long desired to see.''^ 

But though, by this sort of management, joined to a 
behaviour perfectly inoffensive, he kept on apparently 
good terms with Wolsey, yet the vain and ambitious 
cardinal could not behold his shining talents, his great 
popularity, and the warm friendship which the king often 
expressed for him, without feeling strong sentiments of 
jealousy and dislike. But as it was not possible to re- 
move so great a favourite from court, unless under pretence 
of promoting his advancement, an embassy, which was 
about to be sent into Spain, seemed to afford a suitable 
occasion for executing this design. Wolsey, accordingly, 
* Roper, p. 10. Stapleton, p. 285. f Ibid. 



42 SIR TH0M4S MORE. 

expatiated to the king on the learning, wisdom, and tried 
dexterity of More, declaring, that there was no other 
person in the kingdom so fit to conduct the negotiation. 
Henry, readily assenting to these opinions, and glad to 
have found an opportunity of gratifying More, imme- 
diately acquainted him with his intended honours. But 
More, who felt a strong aversion to the appointment, 
represented to his majesty that the climate of Spain was 
peculiarly ill suited to his constitution, and would pro- 
bably prove fatal ; yet that, notwithstanding, if it was his 
majesty's pleasure, he would prepare for the journey. 
Henry, who had no suspicion of the cardinal's stratagem, 
replied that he intended him good, and not harm; and 
since he declined the appointment, he would think of 
some other person. # 

On some important questions of political economy, 
which have in later times been so strangely misunderstood, 
the ideas of More appear to have been enlightened and 
profound. A subsidy having, on one occasion, been de- 
manded by the government for carrying on a war against 
the emperor, the commons could not deny that it was 
requisite for the exigencies of the state ; but they urged as 
an apology for refusing it, that, as it must be paid in 
money and not in goods, all the coin in their hands would 
be drained away; that the whole course of sales and 
purchases would thus be altered, and the most ruinous 
consequences ensue ; that the landlord, if he received 
only corn and cattle from his tenants, instead of money, 
could not dispose of these commodities for the various 
articles of which he stood in need ; that a stop would 
necessarily be put to all traffic and merchandise; that, 
consequently, the shipping of the kingdom would decay ; 
and that, in fine, as our coin, being employed in the 
payment of our forces abroad, would be transferred to 
enrich our enemies, the whole nation would, from want of 
money, and the consequent destruction of its commerce, 

* Roper, p. 12. More, p. 53. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 43 

both internal and external, become obscure and bar- 
barous. In answer to this reasoning, More ridiculed the 
absurd supposition, that a kingdom could be enriched by 
the money introduced into it by an invasion ; and exposed 
the folly of imagining that the wealth of a country could 
be more injured by transferring its money than any of its 
other commodities into the hands of its government, or 
even of foreign nations. He argued, "that the money 
ought not to be accounted as lost or taken away, but only 
transferred into other hands of their kindred or nation; 
that herein no more was done than what we ordinarily see 
in markets, where, though the money change masters, yet 
every one may be accommodated." — " You have no 
reason," continued he, " to fear this penury or scarceness 
of money, the intercourse of things being so established 
throughout the whole world, that there is a perpetual 
derivation of all that can be necessary to mankind. Thus 
your commodities will ever find out money ; while, not to 
go far, 1 shall produce your own merchants only, who, let 
me assure you, will be always as glad of your corn and 
cattle, as you can be of any thing they bring you." # 
Here we find the sagacity of More penetrating to those 
complicated truths with respect to the nature and use of 
money, the developement of which, nearly three centuries 
afterwards, raised Adam Smith to the highest station 
among political economists. 

For the conduct of affairs requiring peculiar sagacity, 
management, and command of temper, More was held in 
high estimation ; yet he seems to have anxiously declined 
diplomatic missions, both as they would have placed him 
too directly under the control of Wolsey, and have re- 
moved him to a distance from his family. -j- Occasionally, 

* The Life and Reign of Henry VIII., by Lord Herbert of Cher- 
bury, edit. 1741, p. 112. 

f " I do not like my office of ambassador," says he merrily to Erasmus; 
" it doth not suit a married man thus to leave his family : it is much 
fitter for you ecclesiastics^ qui primum uxores ac liberos, aut domi non 
habetis, aut ubique reperitis" — Sae Jortin, vol. i , p. 89. 



44 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

however, he was obliged to act as a negotiator; and 
having attended Wolsey in his embassy to France in 
1527, he acquitted himself so much to the satisfaction of 
Henry, as to be rewarded, on his return, with the chancel- 
lorship of the duchy of Lancaster,* Two years afterwards, 
we find him employed, in conjunction with his much 
esteemed friend, Tonstall, bishop of Durham, to assist at 
the famous negotiations at Cambray. The conditions of 
the treaty of Madrid, which Charles V. had hastily 
compelled Francis I. to sign while he held him in cap- 
tivity, having been found too dishonourable and pernicious 
to be executed, an attempt was made to prevent the 
renewal of hostilities between France and Spain. Ac- 
cordingly, Louise, mother of the French king, and Mar- 
garet, aunt to the emperor, to whose mediation this 
important affair was entrusted, met at Cambray, and after 
many difficulties, came at length to an accommodation, 
which was greatly accelerated by the good offices of the 
English ambassadors. f Henry, who had some favourite 
purposes to serve by the conclusion of this treaty, was so 
much delighted with the part which More had acted, that 
he caused the Duke of Norfolk, on a public occasion, to 
express how much both himself and his kingdom were 
indebted to his able negotiation.^ 

As Latin was in that age the chief language for the 
intercourse, not only of the learned, but of governments, 
the readiness and elegance with which it was spoken by 
More brought his services, on public occasions, into great 
request. Thus we find him replying, with much applause, 
in the name of Henry, at one time to the ambassador of 
France,^ at another to those studied harangues with 
which the universities were accustomed to receive the 
visits of their sovereign. || The ceremonious splendour of 
such occasions was ill suited to his taste, but he seems to 
have been by no means averse to displays of unpremedi- 

* More, p. 54. f Herbert, p. 231. J Roper, p. 21. Hoddesdon, 42. 
§ Herbert, p. 152. || More, p. 60. Roper, p. 13. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 45 

tated eloquence ; for we are told, that when he came to 
any foreign university in the course of his embassies, he 
usually requested to be present at the public Latin dispu- 
tations held in these seats of learning ; and sometimes 
mixing in the contests which he had come to witness, 
astonished the audience by his fluency and learning. # 

Henry, meantime, continued to show him new and still 
more flattering marks of esteem and friendship. Pleased 
to exchange the ceremonious splendour of a court for the 
charms of More's domestic society, the monarch would 
occasionally come, without any previous notice, to spend 
the day at Chelsea, and partake in the private entertain- 
ments of his minister. These tokens of royal favour were 
not, however, overvalued by More. He felt no elevation 
at being made subservient to the pleasures even of his 
sovereign ; and he knew Henry's disposition too well not 
to be sensible that his attachment was the mere transient 
impulse of the moment. An anecdote strongly expressive 
of these sentiments is preserved. The king having one 
day paid him an unexpected visit to dinner, and having 
afterwards walked with him for an hour in the garden, 
with his arm round his neck, Mr. Roper, son-in-law to 
More, took occasion, after Henry was gone, to congratulate 
him on his rare good fortune, in being treated by the king 
with a degree of familiarity never experienced by any 
other subject. " I thank our Lord," replied More, " I 
find his grace my very good lord indeed ; and I believe 
he doth as singularly favour me as any subject in this 
realm. However, son Roper, I may tell thee, I have no 
cause to be proud thereof; for if my head would win him 
a castle in France, it would not fail to be struck off."f 

Yet More, while thus aware of the capricious and head- 
long violence of Henry, had already found himself obliged 
to dissent" from him in a point where the passions of the 
monarch were deeply interested. Prince Arthur, his elder 
brother, had been married, at the early age of fifteen, to 
* More, p. 60. f Roper, p. 13. 



46 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

Catharine, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, but had 
died a few months after the celebration of his marriage. 
On this occasion, his father, in whom avarice was the 
supreme passion, unable to endure that the large dowry 
of Catharine, amounting to two hundred thousand ducats, 
should be carried back to Spain, procured a dispensation 
from the pope, and compelled his second son, Henry, to 
be affianced to the infanta. The prince, though only 
twelve years of age, is said to have been extremely averse 
to this unusual contract, but could not, at his early age, 
make any effectual resistance to the determined purpose 
of his father. On his accession to the throne, at the age 
of eighteen, as his marriage had not yet been celebrated, 
it was warmly debated in the council of state whether he 
ought to fulfil his early contract. It could scarcely be 
considered as binding upon him, since he had been forced 
into it in his nonage. The marriage was somewhat in- 
eligible from the greater age of the lady, which exceeded 
his own by six years, and seriously objectionable from 
her former union with his brother. On the other hand, 
her amiable disposition, her affection for Henry, her large 
dower, and the advantages of maintaining a close alliance 
with Spain, were strongly urged in favour of fulfilling the 
contract, and these considerations at length prevailed 
with the council. 

Henry lived many years very happily with Catharine, 
and was much won by the unvaried sweetness of her 
temper ; yet circumstances too often occurred to remind 
him of their unusual, and, as it was accounted, unnatural 
connexion. The marriage of a brother with the widow 
of his brother, a union so repugnant to the customs of 
all Christian nations, and solemnly prohibited by a law 
founded on evident expediency, was looked upon with a 
degree of horror ; nor could the dispensation of the pope, 
now much less regarded than formerly, efface this general 
impression. Even Henry VII. himself, whose avarice 
had occasioned the contract, is said to have discovered an 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 47 

intention to take some favourable opportunity of having it 
annulled, # and on his death-bed to have charged his son 
not to complete a union so unusual, and repugnant to the 
laws of God and man.f Warham, the primate, a man 
of great learning and authority, had, with some others, 
openly declared against the resolution of the council, 
which approved the marriage ; and similar sentiments had 
been avowed by foreign governments. A treaty being 
entered into for the espousal of Mary, the issue of this 
marriage, with the French king or the Duke of Orleans, 
the ambassador of that nation directly objected to the 
legitimacy of the princess, on account of the unprecedented 
relation of her parents. J Even the Emperor Charles, 
although her cousin-german, had attempted to evade a 
similar contract by the same objection.^ 

The impression made by these circumstances on Henry's 
mind, although slight at first, was in process of time 
greatly aggravated by various considerations. If Mary's 
legitimacy could be called in question, it was apprehended 
that the King of Scotland, the next heir, would, on the 
death of Henry, lay claim to the crown, and replunge the 
nation into those civil wars from which it had so lately 
emerged. His confessor, influenced by Wolsey, who had 
at that time some private purposes to serve by a disso- 
lution of the marriage, contrived to infuse new doubts into 
his mind ; and when he afterwards applied to his bishops 
for a solution of his scruples, he found them all, with the 
exception of Fisher, bishop of Rochester, fully satisfied 
of the unlawfulness of the marriage. Heaven itself, 
indeed, seemed to him to have pronounced a similar sen- 
tence ; for although Catharine had borne him several 
children, yet they had all died in early infancy, except 
one daughter; a calamity which struck him the more, 
because the curse of being childless is the very threatening 

* Hume, from Morison's Apomaxis, p. 13. 

+ Hume, from ibid. Heylin's Queen Mary, p. 2. See also Herbert, 
p. 208. t Herbert, p. 191. § Ibid. 



48 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

denounced in the law of Moses against those who marry 
a brother's widow. At the same time, the decay of the 
queen's beauty, and certain distempers which increased 
with her years, contributed, by diminishing the king's 
affection for her, to augment his scruples. # 

But all his apprehensions of the illegitimacy of his 
marriage were converted into certainties by the appearance 
at court of Anne Boleyn, a young lady connected with 
the most noble families of the kingdom, yet far more dis- 
tinguished by her beauty and accomplishments than by 
her rank. Having been appointed one of the queen's 
maids of honour, she was frequently in the company of 
Henry, and soon attracted his notice by the charms of her 
person, and the captivating vivacity of her conversation. 
The result of these interviews was a passion, which, in his 
warm temperament, quickly became predominant ; and as 
he found her virtue proof against all licentious advances, 
he conceived an irresistible desire to gratify his wishes by 
raising her to the throne. f From this period, the reigning 
object of his mind was to procure the dissolution of his 
marriage with Catharine. He applied to the pope to 
annul the dispensation which had been granted by his 
predecessor, a request with which Clement VII., who then 
held the apostolic chair, had many weighty reasons to 

* Herbert, p. 1.94. 

■f From the frequent murder or divorce of his wives, to make room for 
others, it has been strangely supposed that Henry entertained some 
scruples about concubinage, and that an aversion to libertinism at least 
may be accounted among his virtues. How far this opinion is well 
founded will appear from the following passage in the history of his life, 
which seems to have been overlooked by modern writers : — " One of the 
liberties which our king took at his spare time was to love. For as all 
recommendable parts concurred in his person, and they, again, were ex- 
alted in his high dignity and valour ; so it must seem less strange, ifi 
amid the many fair ladies which lived in his court, he both gave and re- 
ceived temptation. Among whom, because Elizabeth Blunt, daughter 
to Sir John Blunt, knight, was thought, for her rare ornaments of na- 
ture and education, to be the beauty and mistress-piece of her time, that 
entire affection passed betwixt them, as at late she bore him a son. This 
child proving so equally alike to both parents, that he became the best 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 49 

comply ; and although his terror of the emperor's dis- 
pleasure made him invent many pretences to delay a final 
decision, yet his promises and professions led Henry to 
look with confidence to a favourable result. 

While things continued in this undetermined state, the 
king, anxious that the opinion of his subjects should 
coincide with his in a point where their support might 
become indispensably necessary, exerted himself to gain 
over to his side the persons of most influence in the 
nation, and was especially solicitous that his divorce 
should have the sanction of More. The high estimation 
in which the talents, and still more the integrity of this 
minister were held at home and abroad, rendered his 
voice of much importance. All felt that his penetration and 
judgment, experienced as he was in intricate discussions 
of law and theology, were not likely to be led astray ; and 
all were convinced, that no opinion different from his real 
sentiments could be drawn from him either by fear or 
complaisance. But, in the present instance, his decision 
was by no means favourable to the views of the monarch. 
He probably looked on the laws prohibiting marriage 
between near degrees of kindred as founded merely on 
expediency, and capable of being laid aside, without moral 
turpitude, when interfering with the welfare of nations, or 

emblem of their mutual affection, was called Henry Fitzroy by the 
king, and so much avowed by him, that, having now attained the age 
of six years, he was made a knight publicly, and the same day created 
Earl of Nottingham, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, and lieutenant- 
general beyond the Trent, and warden -general of the borders of Scotland, 
and, shortly after, admiral of England. After which, he was first bred 
up together with Henry, Earl of Surrey, in the castle of Windsor, 
which the earl elegantly describes in a sonnet extant in his works ; from 
whence, November 1532, they went both together to study at Paris; 
which acquaintance and friendship was endeared again by a match of the 
said duke with Mary, the earl's sister, by whom he yet had no issue. 
Howbeit, I find he was very personable, and of great expectation, inso- 
much that he was thought, not only for ability of body, but mind, to be 
one of the rarest of his time ; for which reason also, he was much che- 
rished by our king, as also because he had no issue male by the queen, 
nor did, perchance, expect any." — Herbert, p. 137. 

E 



50 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

the security of governments ; and he seems to have 
thought that the pope, whose power he accounted ex- 
tremely salutary in regulating the affairs of religion and 
morality, was fully competent to authorize this departure. 
At the same time, he foresaw many great evils which 
might ensue from the king's divorce. To an amiable and 
meritorious queen, the loss of her husband and her throne 
was an act of cruel injustice; and while her daughter 
suffered no less severely from the deprivation of her rights 
of succession, her disputed title (for many could never be 
brought to acquiesce in the proposed measure) would 
scarcely fail at some future period to throw the nation 
again into civil convulsions. Nor was it only at home 
that the country was likely to suffer from the prosecution 
of the divorce; the emperor, then the most powerful 
prince in Europe, would probably avenge the degradation 
of his aunt by open hostilities. 

From a mature consideration of these circumstances, 
the opinion which More formed was decidedly in favour 
of the legitimacy of the marriage, and the impropriety of a 
divorce ; nor could Henry, either by private conversations 
or by the assistance of able men, prevail on him to alter 
his sentiments. Yet he listened to their arguments with 
so much attention, replied to them with so much calmness, 
and maintained his dissent with such unaffected mildness, 
that even the impetuous and violent Henry was mortified 
without being displeased at his want of success. More 
entreated the king to consider his refusal to sanction the 
marriage as proceeding from conviction, and not from 
any want of inclination to promote the pleasure of his 
sovereign. If he abandoned his integrity to serve an 
occasion, he should be unworthy of the confidence with 
which he was honoured ; that, however, he by no means 
considered his own opinion as the standard of truth, or to 
be depended on in opposition to those of so many wise 
and learned men; and that his majesty would readily 
find, among his other counsellors, persons whose senti- 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 51 

merits coincided with his views, and who were better 
qualified, by their opinions and influence, to promote 
them. Henry, moved by the candour and moderation of 
this address, declared that More should retain his opinions 
unmolested, and, although not permitted by his convic- 
tion to serve him on this occasion, should continue to 
enjoy his favour unabated.* 

The delays which the pope studiously interposed, to 
prevent the question of the divorce from being brought to 
a decision, at length ruined the credit of Wolsey, whom 
the king had entrusted with the conduct of this affair. 
The high opinion of his abilities, with which this favourite 
had inspired the monarch, made Henry attribute his 
present failure to want rather of inclination than of power ; 
and the influence of Anne Boleyn, who looked upon him 
as her principal enemy, precipitated his fall. He was 
stript of his offices and wealth; and after a career of 
authority and grandeur almost too great for a subject, 
was made to feel how worthless are the highest honours 
which depend on the caprice of an arbitrary prince. 

About this time More, having acted his part in the 
negotiations at Cambray so much to the king's satisfac- 
tion, had returned to court; and Henry having now, by 
the fall of Wolsey, the chancellorship at his disposal, 
gladly seized the opportunity of conferring that high office 
on More. No appointment could have been more popular, 
since no one stood so high in the public opinion for in- 
tegrity, industry, and experience, both in legal and political 
business. To More it was the more honourable, that it 
had for several reigns been conferred exclusively on dig- 
nified ecclesiastics ; and the few instances in which, in the 
course of our history, it had been given to laymen, were 
now almost wholly forgotten. That nothing might be 
omitted which could do honour to the new chancellor, the 
Duke of Norfolk, at his installation, delivered, by the 
king's command, an oration, which, after displaying the 
* Roper, p. 28. 
E 2 



52 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

eminent services of More, concludes with the following 
words, so remarkable to be dictated by an arbitrary 
sovereign, and spoken by the first peer of his realm :— " It 
may, perhaps, seem to many a strange and unusual 
matter that this dignity should be bestowed upon a layman, 
none of the nobility, and one that hath wife and children, 
because heretofore but singular learned prelates, or men 
of greatest nobility, have possessed the place : but what is 
wanting in these respects, the admirable virtue, the match- 
less gifts of wit and wisdom of this man, doth most fully 
recompense. For the king's majesty hath not regarded 
how great, but what a man he was ; he hath cast his eyes 
not on the nobility of his blood, but on the worth of his 
person; he hath respected his sufficiency, not his pro- 
fession ; finally, he would show by this choice, that he 
hath some rare subjects among the row of gentlemen and 
laymen, who deserve to manage the highest offices in the 
realm, which bishops and nobles think they only can 
deserve." # 

But this elevation, however honourable, was far from 
agreeable to More. He felt that, while the height to 
which he was now raised must necessarily render him 
more obnoxious to Henry's caprice, it was no longer in his 
power to avoid the storm, by withholding his opinion. 
His duty, he was aware, would soon call on him to dissent 
openly from a measure, to which he saw the king more 
vehemently impelled ; and we have already seen the con- 
sequences which his knowledge of Henry's character led 
him in such an event to expect. But as the imperfect 
reasons which he could venture to state for declining the 
office produced no impression on the king, and his accep- 
tance of it was unavoidable, he seems to have resolved, 
as the only course by which he could reconcile public 
usefulness with personal safety, to devote himself assi- 
duously to his duties as a judge, and to interfere as little 
as possible in affairs of state. For though the chancellor- 
* Roper, p. 22. Hoddesdon, p. 47. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 53 

ship was considered the highest civil* station in the king- 
dom, and he who occupied it as the prime minister, or 
principal adviser of his sovereign, yet there were various 
circumstances which, at that period, enabled its possessor 
to withdraw, in a considerable degree, from public transac- 
tions. There existed then no such character as that of a 
minister, regularly responsible for the acts of government, 
and supposed, in virtue of his office, to direct all the 
principal measures adopted under his administration. The 
king might, at that period, have been called his own 
prime minister; the measures of his government flowed 
not only nominally, but really from himself; and the 
business of his ministers was either to execute his orders, 
or assist him with their advice when he thought proper to 
require it. Sometimes an individual, by his superior 
talents, and much more frequently by artifice, acquired 
such an ascendancy over the mind of his sovereign, that 
he was enabled, like Wolsey, to order the affairs of 
government at his pleasure. But as this exercise of 
authority was not in virtue of any regular office, he was 
often thwarted in his views, often obliged to acquiesce in 
measures undertaken in opposition to his sentiments ; nor 
was he considered as hi any degree responsible to par- 
liament for acts which he was not deemed able to control. 
A disgraced minister was often prosecuted before that 
assembly for the transactions of his administration ; but 
this, far from an act of public justice, was merely a display 
of royal vengeance against a person who had incurred the 
king's displeasure. If the ruin of the victim was once 
resolved on, innocence was no protection : he was prose- 
cuted for measures which the king had dictated, and both 
houses of parliament had sanctioned, as well as for those 
which could be justly ascribed to himself. 

But while the kino; took so oreat a share in the direc- 
ts o 

tion of the state, the affairs of government were far less 
important and complicated than in later times. Even the 
foreign transactions, although the principal business of 



54 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

state, required no very constant nor eminent exertion of 
talent. The politicians of Italy were, indeed, already 
busied in adjusting a balance of power ; and while all the 
courts of Europe were filled with intrigues to confirm or 
counteract these arrangements, Henry boasted that, as 
France and Spain divided the power of the continent 
between them, England had the glory of holding the 
balance. But if the scales continued to maintain their 
equipoise, it was to be attributed to very different causes 
from the discretion of the umpire, who was ready to throw 
his weight into either, according to the views, the passion, 
or the caprice of the moment. Such was the poverty and 
internal disunion of those extensive empires, that they 
could not bring into the field, far less maintain for a con- 
siderable time, a sufficient body of troops to produce 
material injury to each other; and England, by joining 
with either, was more than secure against the adverse 
power. 

The other departments of the executive government, 
divided at present among so many principal officers of 
state, were then of little comparative importance. While 
an army was merely a temporary levy, raised in haste by 
some crude and violent methods which custom had sanc- 
tioned, a navy was chiefly a collection of vessels hired or 
impressed into the service of government for some parti- 
cular attempt, and manned almost wholly with soldiers. 
The arduous business of taxation was then unknown : the 
ordinary revenues of the king were derived from his own 
demesnes, from certain feudal fines, or from a few ancient 
imposts; his extraordinary expenses were defrayed by 
contributions imposed by parliament, and levied after a 
certain customary form. # To regulate the ceremonial of 
the court, to superintend the police, and to ward against 
plots or insurrections, were in those days the chief duties 
of ministers ; for the vast business of colonies formed as 
yet no part of the cares of administration. 

* These forms were denominated subsidies, tenths, fifteenths, &c. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 55 

In such a state of things, government could be con- 
ducted even by a hot-headed arbitrary prince, without 
much interference from experienced ministers; and the 
situation of public affairs was now peculiarly free from 
difficulties. The Continent had been restored to peace ; 
the nation enj oyed perfect tranquillity at home ; Henry, 
having abandoned his early predilection for expensive 
armaments, was not in particular want of money; his 
attention was diverted from all schemes of ambition, and 
his mind wholly occupied with the business of his divorce, 
and the charms of Anne Boleyn. 

Enabled by all these circumstances to turn his thoughts 
without distraction to the legal duties of his office, More 
soon drew on himself the admiration of his countrymen. 
Wolsey had presided in the court of chancery with much 
ability, and, as far as regarded himself, with unimpeached 
integrity; but, as he had a pitiful ambition to efface from 
the minds of men all recollection of his origin, by the 
excess of his pomp and arrogance, it was hardly possible 
for a person of common rank to procure admittance to his 
presence without bribes to his attendants. The suitors in 
chancery were thus deprived of their rights, or plundered 
of their money, scarcely less than if the judge had ad- 
ministered justice to those only who could win him by 
bribes, or awe him by their rank. The conduct of More 
was in every thing, except integrity, the very reverse of 
Wolsey's. Resolved that no man who had been wronged 
should have to purchase justice, and that the poor and 
helpless, who stood most in need of the protection of the 
laws, should not be defrauded of their rights, he took 
precautions that every one should have direct and imme- 
diate access to his court; and in proportion as a suitor 
was poorer, meaner, or more unprotected, he was receiv- 
ed with more affability, his business heard with more 
attention, and dispatched with more readiness. Aware, 
however, that even this demeanour was not sufficient to 
ensure justice to all ; that the expense of solicitors and the 



56 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 



necessary writings, as well as the regular fees of office, 
frequently deterred men from prosecuting a just claim; 
and that the suits in forma pauperis, which had lately 
been granted,* were but very lamely supported, it was his 
custom to sit every afternoon in his open hall, where 
every one who had any suit to prefer was allowed to come 
without any form or writing whatever, and explain his 
claims in person.f 

Although he thus brought on himself a load of causes, 
which he might have avoided by rendering his court more 
difficult of access, such was his indefatigable diligence, 
that he proceeded rapidly in clearing away the arrears of 
his predecessors. On his appointment to the chancellor- 
ship, he had found his court encumbered by a vast accu- 
mulation of suits, some of which had been there near 
twenty years ; yet he had held the office only two years, 
when, on determining a certain cause, and calling for the 
next to be heard, he was answered that there was not one 
more depending. This circumstance, which had perhaps 
never occurred before since the institution of the court, he 
caused to be entered on record. J 

The most unpleasant and invidious part of his labours 
was to remedy the abuses of the courts of common law, 
from whose judgments relief was continually prayed. 
Though he granted no injunction, and allowed no subpoena 
to be issued, till he had carefully examined the bill, his 
interferences, in these days of partial decisions, became 
so frequent, as at length to excite the complaints of the 
judges. Informed of their dissatisfaction, he requested 
their attendance at a conference; and, producing a list of 
all the injunctions which he had ever issued, as well as 
the reasons which had influenced him to interpose, he 
desired them to point out the instances in which he had 

* By 11 Henry VII. cap. 12. f Roper, p. 24. 

% Augustus, after a lapse of some hundred years, closed the Temple 
of Janus for the second time : Shall posterity have to wait as long for a 
legal Augustus to give a second clearance to our court of chancery ? 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 5? 

improperly interfered. A perusal of this document having, 
however, convinced them that their complaints were as 
unfounded as their sentences had been unjustifiable, he 
assured them, that no office could be more ungrateful to 
him than to interfere with their judgments; and, as a 
proof of his sincerity, promised to desist entirely, provided 
they would engage to exert their own authority in remedy- 
ing these abuses. But they having, as More indignantly 
observed, their own purposes to serve in directing such 
judgments, while they were secured, by the verdict of a jury, 
from all responsibility, declined this equitable proposals 

The inflexible integrity and disinterestedness of More 
became proverbial ; for while he would allow none of his 
friends, or the officers of his court, to burden the suitors 
by receiving presents, no hopes or fears, or even the affec- 
tions of kindred and friendship, were ever known to bias 
his judgment. An instance is mentioned, in which he 
made a decree directly against one of his sons-in-law, who 
trusting to the favour of so near a relative, had refused to 
submit his cause to arbitration. -f* Another of his sons-in-law 
having, between jest and earnest, complained that he did 
not allow his friends to make any profit under him ; not 
that he, for his part, would be guilty of perverting justice, 
but that he saw no harm in receiving a small present 
for speaking in behalf of suitors : More applauded the 
scrupulousness of his conscience, and told him that he 
should endeavour to provide for him otherwise ; " for this 
one thing I assure you/' said he, " that if the parties will 
call for justice at my hands, then, though it were my 
father, whom I love so dearly, stood on one side, and the 
devil stood on the other, his cause being just, the devil of 
me should have his due."J " For your sake," he would 
say to his children, " I will do justice to all men, and leave 
you a blessing."^ 

* Roper, pp. 24, 25. Hoddesdon, p. 57. f Roper, p. 24. 

t Roper, p. 23. Hoddesdon, p. 56. 

§ Lives of the Lords Chancellors, vol. i., p. 71. 



58 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

The disinterestedness of More was no less conspicuous 
as a courtier than as a judge. The mere salary of his 
office was all that he enjoyed from the public; and 
although he stood so high in the favour of his prince that 
nothing would have been refused him, yet he could, after 
his retirement, declare, that he had never asked one penny 
for himself or his friends. # His few requests to the king- 
were chiefly in favour of those engaged in literature and the 
fine arts, who could not, without the assistance of patron- 
age, continue those pursuits which were to reflect lustre on 
their age. Among others who shared his protection was 
Holbein, the celebrated painter. This artist, who was a 
native of Switzerland, having come over to England re- 
commended to More by Erasmus, experienced a most 
flattering reception from the chancellor, who was warmly 
attached to the fine arts, and still more to Erasmus, f He 
kept Holbein upwards of two years in his own house, gave 
him encouragement to paint many beautiful pictures, of 
which some are preserved to the present times, and even 
found means to attract towards him the king's particular 
attention. Having, with this view, hung up all the artist's 
pieces in his great hall, disposed in the best order and 
placed in the most favourable light, he invited Henry to 
an entertainment. The king, on entering the hall, was 
greatly struck with this display of painting ; and when he 
inquired eagerly whether such an artist was now alive, 
and to be had for money, More embraced this opportunity 
of presenting Holbein to his majesty. Henry immediately 
took him into his service, and soon brought him into high 
reputation and employment among persons of distinction. J 

* Roper, p. 15. 

f Erasmus made a present of his picture to More, and sent it over by 
Holbein, who had painted it. More sent Erasmus, in return, a group, 
including himself' and his whole family, by the same artist. — Jortin's 
Life of Erasmus, vol. i., p. 489. 

X Among the numerous works of this celebrated artist, none, perhaps, 
are more noted than the groupes of Sir Thomas More's family ; but very 
good reasons have been assigned for supposing, that though the heads 
were sketched by Holbein, the pictures were finished by an inferior 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 59 

But while More was thus displaying, in his exalted 
station, the same virtues which he had exhibited in a 
private condition, he became unfortunately involved in 
the theological controversies of the times, and, by the part 
which he bore in them, sullied that fame on which even 
envy could fix no other stain. We have seen that his 
religious creed made an early and deep impression on his 
mind; that even the most liberal studies were unable to 
shake his veneration for many superstitious observances; 
and that he was prevented, chiefly by diffidence in his 
own virtue, from devoting his life to the severities of a 
monastic order. But although he pursued a lay profes- 
sion, he had all the devotion of an exemplary priest. His 
ordinary conversation was indeed lively and full of hu- 
mour; but he would occasionally, with a solemnity the 
more impressive from its contrast with his usual cheerful- 
ness, remind his family of the duties they owed to their 
Creator, of the uncertainty of human life, the vanity of 
earthly pleasures, and the improvement of affliction.* His 
attachment to religion and its services was open and 
avowed ; and, while he constantly attended divine service 
at his parish church of Chelsea, he often assisted in its 
celebration. The Duke of Norfolk coming one day to 
dine with him, found him at church, dressed in a surplice, 
and singing with the choir : " How ! " said his grace, as 
they returned from worship, " my lord chancellor a parish 
clerk! you dishonour the king and his office." — "Nay," 
replied More, "think not your master and mine dis- 
honoured by my serving God, his master, "f Even when 
engaged in the utmost hurry of private or public business, 
it was his constant custom, when at home, to read the 
psalms and litany with his wife and children : and, in the 

artist — Anecdotes of Painting, vol. i., p. 85. The most noted of these 
pictures is at Burford, in Oxfordshire, the seat of the Lenthalls ; 
another was purchased by Sir Rowland Wynne, who carried it to his seat 
in Yorkshire. — Lysons' Environs of London, vol. ii., p. 81. 

* Roper, p. 16. t Ibid, p. 29. Hoddesdon, p. 66. More, p. 17. 



60 



SIR THOMAS MORE, 



evening, to go with his whole family into his chapel, 
where the psalms and collects were devoutly rehearsed.* 
In this chapel, which he had erected at a short distance 
from his house, with a gallery and library, he sometimes 
sequestered himself even from his own family, and gave 
his mind wholly up to serious meditation. There were few 
days on which he did not here spend an interval in study 
and devotion, and the whole of Friday he anxiously sought 
thus to appropriate in solitude.^ 

Yet was his piety cheerful and unaffected, free from all 
moroseness, and perfectly uncontaminated with ostentation. 
When his mind had become expanded by the cultivation 
of literature, and by a more extensive knowledge of man- 
kind, his religious sentiments seem to have been re- 
markable for their liberality. J He represents it as an 
inviolable maxim with his Utopians, that no man ought 
to be punished for his religion : and while every one 
was allowed to believe, without inquiry or molestation, 
whatever his own understanding approved, he was pro- 
hibited, not only from committing injury or insult towards 
those of a different creed, but even from attempting to 
make proselytes by any other means than the most gentle 
persuasion. To accommodate the public worship to these 
liberal institutions, every form and prayer in his imaginary 
republic was conceived in such a manner, that no one who 
believed in the existence of a God could scruple to join 
in it. No images were admitted into their temples, no 
adoration paid there unless to God alone; and while the 
members of every sect were allowed to perform their pecu- 
liar ceremonies without control in their own private houses 
they were prevented from disturbing the general harmony 
by obtruding them on the public attention. § As to the 

* Stapleton, p. 248. t Roper, p. 15. 

X Picus of Mirandola, whom he so much admired, was distinguished 
for the freedom of his religious opinions. He was, during his whole 
lifetime, persecuted by the devotees of Rome with charges of heresy? 
and perhaps saved from their hands only by his rank. 

§ Utopia, lib. iL 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 6l 

establishment and authority of the priesthood, the institu- 
tions of the Utopians were more distant from the Romish 
church than those of Luther, or even than those of Calvin ; 
since the clergy were chosen by the people, and invested 
with no further power than to exclude the desperately 
wicked from joining in the public worship. 

Were we, indeed, to judge of More from the sentiments 
which he delivers in the Utopia, we might consider him as 
a reformer, both of religious creeds and of church govern- 
ment, whose plans were too liberal to be carried into 
execution. In comparing the institutions of Utopia with 
those of Christendom, he omits no opportunity to render 
the Romish priesthood the butt of his humour. He takes 
occasion to compliment the activity of those holy men the 
abbots, who are not content with living at their ease 
and doing no good, but must needs do positive mischief. 
He introduces Cardinal Morton's jester laying plans for 
clearing the nation of idleness and beggary. As the most 
appropriate receptacle, the male beggars are to be dis- 
tributed among the Benedictines, as lay-brothers, and the 
females are to become nuns ; while he considers the friars 
as provided for by a statute which enacts, that all vaga- 
bonds should be taken up and put to hard labour. # So 
ridiculous is the view he exhibits of the folly, ill-breeding, 
and malice of these friars, that the publishers of the Uto- 
pia took care to strike the passage out of some later 
editions.f As to the whole body of preachers, he makes 
no scruple of charging them with practising upon the 
Christian doctrine, and accommodating it to their own 
lives, since they could not bring their lives to correspond 
with its precepts. Even the heads of the church do not 
escape his sarcasms. Ascribing the great respect paid to 
treaties in modern Europe to the good example set by the 
popes to other princes, he ironically panegyrizes the per- 
fidious Alexander VI. and Julius II. for their religious 
observance of good faith. 

* Utopia, p. 87- t Burnet, Hist, of Ref. vol. iu\, p, 29. 



62 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 



Nor is it only in his Utopia that we find these free 
strictures. His letters to Erasmus and his other friends 
abound with invectives against the vices of the monks, and 
the corruptions introduced both into the doctrines and the 
government of the Christian church. 

But although More could entertain such liberal senti- 
ments of religion, he does not appear to have formed any 
systematic ideas of a thorough reformation; and with 
whatever detestation he looked on the vices of the priest- 
hood, and the corruptions of the Christian faith, he seems 
not to have been aware how extensive and radical a 
change was required for their correction. He could endure 
the keen raillery and pointed sarcasms of Erasmus, and 
heartily j oin in the laugh against the clergy ; but when 
Luther, disdaining these slow and indirect modes of 
attack, boldly stood forward to arraign not only the vices, 
but the pretensions of the church of Rome, rousing his 
followers to throw off her yoke, and oppose, by every 
power of mind and body, whatever their consciences could 
not approve, the daring nature of these measures, and the 
consequences which ensued, seem to have given too vio- 
lent a shock to the prejudices of More. He could ridicule 
the coarse fictions of the priesthood, and the absurd im- 
portance attached to external observances ; but it was too 
much to see every article of his early creed outraged, and 
all the rites which had been consecrated to him by habit 
ignominiously trampled under foot. Averse, besides, both 
from feeling and principle, to war and violence of every 
description, he was taught, by the recent miseries of his 
own country, to look with horror on those struggles which 
result from civil convulsions. But, in the consequences 
of Luther's doctrines, he could anticipate only one vast 
scene of confusion and bloodshed. While, on the one 
hand, the Roman hierarchy, strong by her wealth and 
splendour, and still stronger by the hold which habitual 
veneration had given her on the minds of men, was reso- 
lutely determined to employ the arm of authority in 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 63 

defence of her power and pretensions, the reformed, on 
the other hand, seemed resolved to shake this mighty 
fabric to the foundation, and to assert their religious 
liberty at the price of their blood. The violent com- 
motions that had already taken place in Germany seemed 
the prelude to a universal and dreadful conflict.*' 

Nor was the conduct of some among the reformed cal- 
culated to attain the approbation of the moderate and 
pious. While the well-informed and virtuous behaved as 
became the happy partakers of so great an amelioration, 
a portion of the multitude, on throwing off the trammels 
of the Romish creed, seemed to wanton in the licence and 
extravagance of their religious opinions. The minds of 
men, escaped from the galling yoke of superstition and 
despotism, and wild with the possession of a new and 
imperfectly understood liberty, were apt to run into the 
opposite extreme of unbounded licentiousness. Some pro- 
posed to give up the Christian faith entirely, and to raise 
their creed on the broad foundations of deism :*j- others, 
while they pretended to continue among the followers of 
Christ, insulted his religion by notions which outraged 
the human understanding. To some it did not appear 
enough to cast off the authority of the church of Rome, to 
inquire and think freely for themselves, and to assert their 
civil, in conj unction with their religious liberty ; they were 
ready to call in question all authority, however necessary 
for the security of society, to own no law but the guidance 
of their own caprice, no obligation but the impulse of 
their own desires. They began even to announce a com- 
mission from Heaven to make proselytes by the sword. 
Such were the frantic tenets of Muncer and his followers, 

* The following passage from a letter of More to Erasmus plainly 
shows, that the convulsions he apprehended from their innovations were 
the principal cause of his hatred to heretics : — " Nam omnino sic illud 
genus hominum odi, ut illis, nisi resipiscunt, tam invisus esse velim, 
quam cui maxime, quippe quos indies magis et magis experior tales, ut 
mundo ab illis vehementer metuam." — Ep. 4G6-. 

t Herbert, p. 238. 



64 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

which afterwards led to the enormities of the Anabaptists 
at Munster. # 

More was unable to view these excesses with the steady 
eye of an enlightened philosopher. Not aware that they 
were the necessary attendants of a revolution in the opi- 
nions of men, which would lead to the most important 
advantages, he did not perceive that society could not, 
without many temporary convulsions, recoil from the unna- 
tural state into which it had been forcibly bent by igno- 
rance and imposture. As the communication of knowledge 
was studiously discouraged both by the church and state, 
it required a violent effort even to assert the right of pro- 
curing instruction ; and a further period of ignorance and 
error had necessarily to elapse, before men could avail 
themselves of the knowledge thus painfully acquired. 
Impressed more forcibly by the immediate disasters of the 
Reformation than by the incalculable advantages which it 
was preparing for future ages, More could not discern the 
fruits of that literature which he himself had so success- 
fully laboured to disseminate. Even Erasmus, the great 
restorer of learning, feared more than he hoped from the 
Reformation, and, like More, was unable to rise to the 
energy of Luther's mind. 

Instead of looking forward to the success of the reform- 
ers for the termination of those convulsions with which the 
Christian world was threatened, More could see no safety 
but in stopping their progress. Imagining that a full 
acknowledgment of the authority of the clergy, and a una- 
nimous submission to the decisions of the pope, were the 
most likely means to restore tranquillity, he looked to the 
suppression of heresy as the first and most urgent care ; 
while, miscalculating the obstinacy of the priesthood, he 
trusted that the abuses of the church might, in a period of 

* The mad tenets and flagitious conduct of a portion of this sect, at 
that period, appear to have had a powerful effect in exciting the opposi- 
tion of More to the Reformation.— See a letter to Cochleus in Stapleton, 
p. 209. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 65 

general quiet, be corrected without exciting convulsions. 
Impressed with these sentiments, and connected with the 
leading adherents of popery in England, it was impossible 
for him, in the present circumstances, to remain a silent 
spectator. Luther and his followers having begun to avail 
themselves, with much industry, of the assistance of the 
press in propagating their opinions, and having evidently 
a great advantage in argument and eloquence over their 
opponents, the literary acquirements of More pointed out 
to him the task of replying to their representations, as the 
most effectual manner in which he could serve the cause of 
the church.* But his theological knowledge was by no 
means equal to his eloquence. He was imperfectly ac- 
quainted with the history of the church ;f and although 
sufficiently versed in some of the Fathers, and in the ques- 
tions of scholastic divinity, he had never searched, with 
the keen eye of an inquirer, to the foundation of his reli- 
gious opinions. Proving, with these disadvantages, a 
very unequal match for Luther and the other reformed 
divines, who had made the most profound researches into the 
subjects in dispute, he had recourse to the usual practice 
of controversialists who find themselves beset by argu- 
ments which they know not how to answer: he grew 
angry w T here he should have begun to doubt, and endea- 
voured to hide the defects of his reasoning in the confi- 
dence of his assertions and the virulence of his abuse. 
The scurrility of his controversial tracts exceeded even the 
usual coarseness of that age ; and it was said, that they 
ought to have procured him only the reputation of having 
the best knack of any man in Europe at calling bad names 
in good Latin. J The easy and natural flow of his style, a 
perpetual succession of humorous allusions, joined to a 
happy art of placing his own opinions in the fairest light, 
and of holding up those of his adversary to ridicule, were, 
however, sufficient to render his tracts extremely popular. 

* Stapleton, p. 189. f Burnet, Hist, of Ref. edit. 1715, vol. i., p. 155. 
X Atterbury's Considerations upon the Spirit of Martin Luther. 

F 



66 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

But while his mind was thus heated with controversy, 
and his passions excited by the applause of the Catholics 
on the one hand, and the abuse of the Protestants on the 
other, the power placed in his hands as lord chancellor, 
unfortunately afforded him an opportunity of displaying his 
zeal otherwise than by polemical writings. It is said to 
have been at his instigation that the king at length put in 
force those laws against heretics, of which Wolsey, either 
from hatred to the clergy, or from a better motive, had 
retarded the execution.^" As the lord chancellor presided 
in the court of the star chamber, before which those ac- 
cused of heresy were then often brought, More had, in his 
official capacity, an opportunity of exercising much seve- 
rity against the favourers of the Reformation. James Bain- 
ham, a gentleman of the Temple, was carried to the chan- 
cellor's house, where much pains were taken to persuade 
him to discover such of his fellow Templars as inclined to 
the new opinions; but fair means not prevailing, More 
is said to have made him be whipt in his presence, and 
afterwards conveyed to the Tower, where, it has been said, 
he looked on and saw him put to the rack.-f- Various 
other cruelties were charged upon him by the Protestants, 
and he was in consequence considered as a principal per- 
secutor. 

Of these accusations some were denied by More, and 
his integrity can allow us to entertain no scruple in receiv- 
ing his testimony; yet many of the severities which he 
committed against the reformed can neither be disputed 
nor palliated. We have only to regret the darkness in 
which superstition may envelope the clearest understand- 
ing ; to lament the obstinacy with which the best men may 
cling to prejudices, which early and inveterate habits have 
rendered sacred in their eyes ; to deplore the excesses into 
which even the most generous dispositions may be hurried, 
if they once engage in controversies where opposition 
and sarcasm sting their feelings and goad their passions. 

* Burnet, Hist, of Ref. vol. i., p. 153, from Fox. f Ibid, p. 158. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 67 

When these causes could impel even More to sanguinary- 
cruelties, what tragedies may they not be expected to pro- 
duce ? In him a natural mildness had been improved by 
enlightened studies, and confirmed by deliberate habits 
of complacency and forbearance. In regard to religious 
liberty, he had at one time expressed ideas not only far 
beyond the age in which he lived, but even more liberal 
than may still be thought consistent with practice. He 
would have no man persecuted, or in any way molested, for 
his religious opinions ; he would even have nothing intro- 
duced into the national worship by which any man's under- 
standing or prejudices could be shocked; while, at the 
same time, every one was permitted to hold whatever 
opinions, and to perform whatever ceremonies, he pleased, 
in company with those of his own persuasion.* Such were 
once the sentiments of More ; and yet even this man could, 
by a fatal gradation, become a religious persecutor. 

But while we censure his conduct, we must respect the 
purity of his motives. Neither the love of power, or fame, 
or affluence, had any share in urging him to the support of 
the Catholic religion, or the persecution of the reformed : 
all that he did was from mistaken principle. Several inci- 
dents are related which place in a striking point of view his 
disinterestedness, and the benefits which he anticipated 
from the extirpation of heresy. As he walked one day with 
his son-in-law, Mr. Roper, by the river at Chelsea, and 
discoursed very seriously on the state of public affairs, he 
suddenly pointed to the water, and said, with much ear- 
nestness, that, on condition that three things were well 
accomplished, he would to God he were presently thrown 
into the Thames ! Roper, surprised at this strong expres- 
sion, and the unusual eagerness of his manner, requested 
to know the objects which he so earnestly desired. " The 
first," said More, " is, that whereas the greatest part of 
Christian princes are now at mortal war, they were at 
universal peace. The second, that whereas the church of 

* See Utopia, 
f2 



68 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

Christ is at this time grievously afflicted with many errors 
and heresies, it were settled in a perfect uniformity of reli- 
gion. The third is, that whereas the king's marriage is 
now brought in question, it were, to the glory of God and 
the satisfaction of all parties, well concluded. " # From 
these words we perceive the strong aversion which he 
entertained to all dissensions that might interrupt the har- 
mony of society, and subject mankind to new calamities. 
Unhappily, he numbered in this class those noble struggles 
for freedom of opinion, which, in violent but temporary 
agitation, lay the basis of permanent tranquillity. 

Another anecdote shows the disinterestedness of his 
religious zeal. His treatises in defence of the Romish 
church were thought to have done essential service to the 
cause ; and as it was known that he had taken no advan- 
tage of the opportunities afforded by his high office to 
amass wealth, the clergy in convocation resolved, as a 
mark of their gratitude, to present him with a gift of four 
or five thousand pounds, a sum equal to more than twenty 
thousand in our times. To show him every possible mark 
of respect, three bishops, among whom was his particular 
friend, Tonstall, bishop of Durham, were deputed to wait 
upon him in the name of the whole body, and to request 
his acceptance of this testimony of their gratitude. More 
expressed his satisfaction that his labours were approved 
by so many wise and learned men; but he absolutely 
refused their present, declaring that he would never accept 
of any reward for his religious writings but at the hands of 
God. With the same constancy he rejected the entreaties 
of the prelates, that he would permit them to offer the 
present to his family. " So much/' said he, " do I value 
my pleasure above my profit, that I would not, for a 
much larger sum, have lost the rest of so many nights as 
were spent upon these writings. Yet, notwithstanding, 
upon condition that all heresies were suppressed, I would 
that all my books were burnt, and my labour entirely lost."f 

• Roper, p. 14. f lbid > P- 2G - 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 69 

But while More continued to execute the office of chan- 
cellor with so much honour to himself, unless where reli- 
gion was concerned, and even there with the approbation 
of his own conscience, Henry's impatience for the comple- 
tion of his divorce became every day more urgent. Find- 
ing the court of Rome resolved to put off the decision of 
his suit as long as possible, without any assurance that the 
ultimate verdict would be favourable to his wishes, he 
began to look around for some other authority to justify 
that course to which he was impelled by his passions. At 
the suggestion of Cranmer, afterwards primate of Eng- 
land, he sent to consult the learned in the most celebrated 
seats of literature throughout Europe, on the question of 
his marriage with Catharine ; and several of the foreign 
universities, more impressed with the criminality of the 
connexion than with the dispensing power of the pope, 
gave their verdict, without hesitation, against its legality. 
Oxford and Cambridge, though withheld for a time by 
their apprehensions of the consequences to the Catholic 
religion, were at length brought to concur in the same 
decision. 

Fortified by these authorities, and by the general con- 
sent of his people, who now began very strongly to favour 
the Reformation, Henry proceeded to discover symptoms 
of an intention to shake off the control of the papal court. 
He refused to appear either in person or by proxy before 
the papal tribunal, whither his cause had been evoked, and 
would not even admit of a citation, which he now affected 
to consider as a heinous insult and a violation of his prero- 
gative. In the parliament and convocation which met in 
the year 1531, measures were taken to abridge the au- 
thority of the pope in England. A confession was extorted 
from the convocation, that the king was the protector and 
supreme head of the church of England, although the 
partisans of the pope dexterously procured the insertion 
of a clause, declaring, that this was " only in so far as 
is permitted by the law of Christ." The parliament, par- 



70 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

ticularly the commons, proceeding, on their part, with 
great alacrity to abridge the revenues of the holy see, 
invested the king with a discretionary power either to pro- 
hibit or permit the pope to levy the annates, or first fruits, 
a tax which consisted in a year's rent of all the bishoprics 
that fell vacant, and which yielded considerable sums to 
the exchequer of Rome. It was also voted, that no regard 
should be paid to any censures which, in consequence of 
this act, might be issued by the court of Rome. The 
commons next preferred to the king, in his quality of 
supreme head of the church, a long catalogue of complaints 
against the oppressions and abuses of the ecclesiastic 
courts ; and it was only by some accidental circum- 
stances, that they were prevented from applying very 
expeditious remedies to those evils. 

More was at no loss to foresee the consequences of these 
decided proceedings. The authority of the pope, to the 
complete establishment of which he had looked as the only 
means of restoring the Christian world to tranquillity, was 
about to be shaken off; the king's divorce, for which this 
change was intended to pave the way, could not be long 
deferred ; and he personally must be ere long called on, in 
his official capacity, to take a part in these measures. He 
had already been under the necessity of bringing forward 
the business of the divorce in parliament, and of explain- 
ing the king's motives and intentions ; # he had, on this 
occasion, strictly refrained from giving any indication of 
his own opinion, but he could not reconcile this ambiguous 
conduct to his sense of duty. Though his conviction 
remained unaltered, he had resolved to make no opposition 
to the measures which the king and the nation might be 
inclined to pursue, with regard to either the divorce or the 
supremacy. Yet, while he was only anxious to bury his 
opinions in his own breast, he knew' that, in his official 
station, even silence would be construed into disapproba- 
tion. As the only means, therefore, by which he could 
* Roper, p. 29. Herbert, pp. 235 and 256. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. ?1 

at once preserve his integrity, and present no obstruction 
to the intended measures, he earnestly tendered his resig- 
nation to the king. To this request Henry could at first by 
no means be prevailed on to listen. He had, indeed, been 
much mortified that he could not bring More to the deci- 
sion which he desired, and had often importuned him to 
reconsider the legality of his marriage. But though he 
found the chancellor immoveably fixed in his original opi- 
nion, such was the attachment with which the amiable 
qualities of his minister had inspired him, and such the 
respect which he entertained for his talents and integrity, 
that he bore this inflexibility without any apparent dis- 
pleasure. Every new overture of this sort ended in new 
declarations on the part of Henry, that he would continue 
to accept his services on his own terms, that nothing 
should diminish his favour for him, and that he would no 
more molest his conscience by importunities.^ 

It was, therefore, not till after repeated solicitations, 
and the intercession of the Duke of Norfolk, who was then 
in high favour at court, that More procured the accept- 
ance of his resignation. He quitted power with the warm- 
est applauses of his sovereign :f Henry expatiated on the 
meritorious manner in which he had discharged his impor- 
tant trust, declared himself and his kingdom debtors for 
many and great services, and assured him, that he should 
ever find a ready compliance with any requests which his 
private interests might induce him to make. These expres- 
sions were unusually gracious from Henry to a minister 
who had refused compliance with his will ; yet, when we 
consider that he was aware of the sacrifice which More had 
made in quitting a lucrative profession to gratify his sove- 

* Stapleton, p. 293. Macp. 116. So complete was Henry's persuasion 
that More would go every length in his favour which integrity would 
permit, that he once proposed him to the court of Rome as one of four 
arbitrators, to whom the whole cause should be submitted. Of the other 
three, the archbishop of* Canterbury was to be one, and the remaining two 
persons named by the emperor and the French king. — Herbert, p. 269. 

t Roper, p. 29. More, p. 186. 



72 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

reign's wishes, and of that disinterestedness which had 
ever prevented him from making a request for his private 
benefit, we cannot much admire the generosity of the 
prince, who could allow such a minister to depart into 
retirement without a provision for his future support. 

We have seen the picture of domestic happiness which 
More's family exhibited previous to his accepting office, 
and the reluctance with which he sacrificed these enjoy- 
ments to the pleasure of his sovereign. We might hence 
be led to conclude that, in resigning his high station, he 
only freed himself from unwelcome cares ; and that, in the 
bosom of his family, he would again find those comforts 
and endearments, for which public distinctions formed, in 
his eyes, a very inadequate compensation. Such was, 
indeed, the case, if we might judge from the pleasantry 
with which he announced his resignation to his family, and 
that flow of gaiety and humour which it rather increased 
than diminished. But the situation of his domestic affairs 
was greatly altered. Previous to his engaging in the 
king's service, the returns of a lucrative profession enabled 
him to live in considerable splendour ; to retain around 
him, and in his house, his daughters, their husbands, and 
their children ; and to attract, by his hospitality, a number 
of learned and ingenious friends. The offices which he 
afterwards held enabled him to continue this style of living ; 
but as he made no undue profits by them, nor employed 
his influence with the king to procure any additional 
grants, his bare salary was unequal to the expenses en- 
tailed on him by his situation; and his private fortune, 
which his liberality had never allowed greatly to accumu- 
late, instead of being augmented by his public employ- 
ments, was considerably impaired. On looking into his 
private affairs after his resignation, he found them in a very 
reduced condition. His yearly income, derived from some 
property in land, did not exceed a hundred pounds;* 
while the paymeat of his debts almost entirely exhausted 
* Herbert, p. 270. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 73 

his money and valuable effects.* As he could not, after 
having held the highest legal station in the kingdom? 
retrace his steps to wealth by resorting again to his pro- 
fession, he was under the necessity of making such 
retrenchments as would adapt his expenses to his fortune. 
He dismissed his whole train of retainers and state ser- 
vants ; but with that affectionate concern which over- 
looked no one around him, he procured for them all suitable 
appointments in families of distinction. He gave his great 
barge to Sir Thomas Audley, his successor in the chancel- 
lorship, with whom he placed his eight watermen ; and his 
fool or jester, the distinguishing appendage of high rank 
in those days, he presented to the lord mayor of London, 
and his successors in office. f 

But while the loss of such idle symbols of greatness 
could not occasion even a transient sensation of regret to 
one who had ever looked on them with indifference, the 
reduced state of his fortune compelled him to a sacrifice 
which could not but wound his heart. Unable any longer 
to provide for his daughters and their families, he was 
under the painful necessity of dismissing them to their 
homes, and of separating himself, for the first time, from 
that society, in which the chief happiness of his life had 
consisted. Nor did his family bear the loss of wealth and 
splendour with that equanimity which might have soothed 
his pain : his wife, as little distinguished for her humility 
as her patience, loudly reproached him with the unaccount- 
able whim of wilfully quitting a station of such honour and 
profit, for poverty and insignificance ; and even his daugh- 
ters, well-informed and well-regulated as were their minds, 
could not relinquish their splendour without a sigh. More, 
apparently nowise discomposed, found only new occasions 
of pleasantry in the altered demeanour of his family ; and, 

* His son-in-law, Mr. Roper, informs us that, after the payment of his 
debts, the whole of More's property in gold and silver (paper obligations 
were not then known) did not, with the exception of his gold chain, the 
appendage of his rank, exceed the value of one hundred pounds. 

f Roper, p. 30. More, p. 187. 



74 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

with a raillery much more effectual than argument, proved 
that the grandeur and power which he had resigned were, 
in his eyes, the very trifles which he had always repre- 
sented them. Observing the sadness of their looks, while 
devising such new economical arrangements as their altered 
circumstances required, he began, in a tone of humour, to 
assure them that they could still make a shift to live. " I 
have tried," said he, " various ways of living, and can 
therefore direct you in this affair. We will begin with the 
slender diet of the students at law ; and if that will not 
hold out, we may have recourse to the sober commons of 
Oxford : and if our purse should yet fail, we may still, as 
a last refuge, go a begging, and at every man's door sing 
a salve regina for alms." # 

Thus did More endeavour to dispel the gloom of his 
family, and to communicate to them that cheerfulness 
and gaiety, of which no external circumstances could rob 
his own mind. His regret for altered circumstances were 
excited chiefly for persons beyond the range of his own 
household. In his better fortune, his liberality to men of 
genius, and his inexhaustible charity to the unfortunate, 
had been conspicuous among his virtues. Of those who 
applied to him for assistance, he relieved some with money, 
and others by his influence; but to dismiss a person in 
distress without some alleviation, was a wound which his 
feelings could not endure. " You might call him," says 
Erasmus, "the benefactor of all the needy. "*f In the 
neighbourhood of his residence at Chelsea, he erected a 
house for the reception of aged people, who were main- 
tained at his expense; and it was the province of his 
favourite daughter, Margaret, to superintend this esta- 
blishment, and see all the wants of its feeble inmates duly 
relieved. J 

The feelings of More were, about this time, deeply 

* Roper, p. 30. Herbert, p. 270. More alluded to the practice of 
the mendicant friars, 
f Erasm. Epist. 447. % More, p. 149. Hoddesdon, p. 63. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 75 

affected by the death of his father.*' Sir John More had 
lived to a very advanced age ; and, in the exalted reputa- 
tion and honours of his son, endeared to him as they were 
by unremitting demonstrations of filial duty, enjoyed the 
highest gratification which can attend the declining years 
of a parent. The manner in which More testified his 
veneration for his father, affords at once a proof of his 
affection, and an amusing picture of the simplicity of the 
age. While chancellor, he never passed through West- 
minster Hall to his seat in chancery, without going into 
the court of king's bench, when his father sat there, and 
receiving his blessing on his knees. When they happened 
to meet at the public readings in Lincoln's Inn, More 
always offered the precedence to his father, who as con- 
stantly refused the honour on account of his son's higher 
ofnce.f The venerable judge, after having seen his son 
elevated to the highest station that a subject could enjoy, 
lived not to witness the reverse of his fortunes. 

More now gave himself wholly up to those avocations 
which had ever yielded him most satisfaction ; and, in his 
retirement at Chelsea, passed his time in domestic con- 
versation, in literature and devotion. Aware that Henry, 
whose mind continually recurred with increasing violence 
to whatever had once become the object of its desire, 
would not fail again to importune him, and put his reso- 
lution to still severer tests, he diligently employed his 
present leisure in preparing himself for the worst. It was 
during this interval that, with an eye steadily and calmly 
fixed on the prospects before him, he erected a monument 
for himself in the church of Chelsea, with an inscription 
recounting the most prominent incidents of his life. J 

A few months after his retirement, he was again invited 
to court, to attend the public celebration of the king's 

* See More's inscription on his own tomb. 

f Stapleton, p. 156. More, pp. 10 and 163. 

$ This monument, which still remains entire and undefaced, is situated 
on the south side of the chancel. The inscription, as it is of considerable 
length, will be found in Appendix (C). 



76 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

marriage with Anne Boleyn. Henry, unable any longer 
to submit to the endless delays of the papal court, had 
already privately married this lady ; and now proceeded, 
in open defiance of the pope's authority, to have her 
crowned in public. The bishops, knowing how much 
Henry would be gratified by the presence and seeming 
approbation of More, united their requests for his at- 
tendance at the ceremony ; and, aware of the contracted 
state of his circumstances, sent him a present of twenty 
pounds to purchase a gown for the occasion. Amused 
with this gift, prudently adapted as it was to a poverty 
which he might have avoided by accepting the former 
magnificent tenders of the clergy, he returned for answer, 
" That he could not mortify their lordships by a second 
refusal of their presents ; that he would accept the gown, 
as tw T enty pounds was no great matter to them, though 
very important to a poor man like him ; but he trusted 
that they would allow him to wear it only when he found 
inclined. " # His conviction of the legality of Henry's first 
marriage remained unaltered ; and as he had resigned his 
station rather than obstruct the views of the monarch, he 
was resolute to give no sanction to measures which he 
could not approve. His declining to attend the coronation 
seems to have greatly irritated the king. Henry now per- 
ceived that no management could induce him to swerve, 
even in appearance, from his deliberate opinions ; and the 
more he esteemed his virtue and authority, the more in- 
dignant he was that he could not induce him to counte- 
nance his measures. The angry feelings of the monarch 
were also perpetually exasperated by Anne Boleyn,f who 
looked on More as her capital enemy, and who tarnished 
many shining qualities by an implacable spirit of revenge. 
An occasion was soon afterwards eagerly embraced, 
to involve More in an indictment for misprision of trea- 
son. Elizabeth Barton, a fanatic nun, having, amidst 
certain fits with which she was troubled, uttered some 
* Roper, p. 33. f More, p. 203. Hoddesdon, p. 94. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 77 

wild ravings, which she and her credulous neighbours 
construed into inspirations of the Holy Ghost ; two de- 
signing priests, perceiving the private advantage which 
they might draw from the circumstance, induced her to 
join with them in a scandalous imposture. By their 
direction she declaimed vehemently against heresy, and 
all innovations in religion ; and, as her miracles and 
revelations, all tending to the same purpose, now attracted 
general attention, her cause began to be considered by 
many popish zealots as intimately connected with their 
own. Her pretended humility and devotion, with the 
intrigues of her accomplices, procured her some notice 
from Warham, archbishop of Canterbury, and still more 
from Fisher, bishop of Rochester. More himself was indu- 
ced by these circumstances to investigate her story ; and 
although he at once perceived the folly of her pretensions, 
he at first attributed her extravagances rather to delirium 
than artifice; for, in his letters to his daughter, Mrs. 
Roper, he called her always the silly nun. # Detecting 
afterwards her imposture, he declared her to be the most 
false, dissembling hypocrite he had ever known.f In the 
mean time, her accomplices, emboldened by a success 
which exceeded their most sanguine calculations, began 
to conceive the daring project of overawing the monarch. 
She was now instructed to declaim against the king's 
divorce, to send comforting revelations to the queen ; and, 
at length, to declare that, if Henry divorced Catharine 
and married another, he should not be king a month 
longer. Such treasonable speeches, rendered dangerous 
by the increasing reputation of the Maid of Kent, as 
she was called, could no longer be overlooked by the 
government. She and her accomplices having been 
brought to trial, and having confessed, not only their 
impostures, but a secret train of abandoned profligacy, 
were deservedly executed. The bishop of Rochester and 

* Roper, p. 34. 

t See his letter to Cromwell in Burnet's Collections, vol. i. 



78 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

some others were indicted for misprision of treason, in not 
disclosing some speeches of a treasonable nature, which, 
it was asserted, they had heard her utter ; and the name 
of More, although nothing of this kind could be alleged 
against him, was included in the bill of attainder. 

Of the injustice of this charge against More, every one 
was convinced ; but though the most eminent of the king's 
ministers endeavoured to have his name struck out of the 
bill, Henry's consent could be obtained only on the con- 
dition that More should be brought to acknowledge the 
propriety of his divorce, and the legality of his second 
marriage. To extort this submission from him, a com- 
mittee of privy counsellors, who had been appointed to 
hear his defence, were instructed to win him over by 
reminding him of the many honours and peculiar marks 
of attachment which the king had bestowed upon him, 
and by assuring him that his majesty was inclined to be 
as gracious as ever. If these gentle means should be 
found ineffectual, they were then commanded to charge 
him, not only with ingratitude, but with base treachery to 
his prince, in having induced him, by his subtle devices, 
to publish a book in defence of the pope's authority, 
which, to his great dishonour, was now turned against 
himself; and this accusation they were directed to con- 
clude with threats of the severest vengeance. More, having 
refused to retract his opinions, and having heard them to 
an end, calmly replied, that their threats were arguments 
for children; that, undeserving as he was of the king's 
favours, he should consider himself as more unworthy 
of them if he could violate his integrity ; that, as to the 
publication of the work in defence of the pope^ supremacy, 
his majesty himself must, on recollection, acquit him of 
that charge, since, instead of advising such a measure, he 
had, on being employed to revise it, strongly remonstrated 
against the high tone in which the pope's authority was 
there maintained ; that he had earnestly entreated the 
king to have the expressions of this tendency softened, 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 79 

representing the bad purposes to which they might be 
applied, in the event of any future misunderstanding with 
the pope; but that his majesty had declared his resolution 
to set forth the pope's authority to the uttermost, whatever 
might be the consequences. 

The result of this conference served only to exasperate 
Henry's resentment, since More had not only persisted to 
thwart his inclinations, but had even dared to charge him 
with misrepresentation. Obstinately bent, therefore, on 
his condemnation, he resolved to prevent the effects of 
his well-known eloquence, by refusing him permission to 
be heard in his own defence; and when he understood 
that the lords were not likely to pass the bill of attainder, 
if this despotic and barbarous, yet not uncommon stretch 
of power were put in force, he declared his resolution to 
be present at the discussion, imagining that the awe of his 
authority would prevail over the eloquence of his victim. 
The Duke of Norfolk and Secretary Cromwell, his two 
principal ministers, who, though friends to the Reforma- 
tion, entertained a high esteem for More, and anxiously 
desired to save him, at length fell on their knees before 
the king ; and, while they represented to him the danger 
of allowing so eloquent a man to plead in his own defence, 
and the disgrace which his majesty would incur if the 
vote should be given against him in his own presence, 
they dexterously suggested the probability of finding a 
much more plausible ground of accusation against the 
object of his displeasure than this. To this last consi- 
deration the obstinacy of Henry at length yielded, and 
he consented that More's name should be struck out of 
the bill* 

But, in that age, an escape from royal vengeance could 
never be looked on as leading to permanent security. 
From this time forward, More well knew that ruin was 
suspended over him, and that a pretext would not long be 
wanting to bring him to the scaffold; yet, far from at- 
* Roper, p. 40. 



80 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

tempting to avert his fate by any degrading compliance, 
he awaited its approach with the firmness of a hero, and 
the tranquillity of a philosopher. To fortify the minds of 
his family against the expected event, and to lessen those 
apprehensions by which they were perpetually distracted, 
he often spoke of death as the termination of those 
struggles which Heaven had appointed for our nature; 
and the cheerfulness which always appeared in his coun- 
tenance, when he discoursed of passing from the one state 
of being to the other, showed that the prospect inspired 
him with hopes unalloyed by apprehension.* A short 
time after the transaction which has been related, the 
Duke of Norfolk, taking an opportunity to represent to 
him how dangerous it was to contend with princes, 
entreated him, as a friend, to yield to the king's requests ; 
and emphatically reminded him of the adage, that the 
wrath of a prince is death. " Is that all, my lord ? " 
replied More ; " then there is only this difference between 
your grace and me, that I shall die to-day, and you to- 
morrow. It is surely better to offend an earthly king 
than the King of Heaven; and temporal death ought to 
be far less the object of our dread than the indignation of 
the Almighty. "f 

As it was now publicly known that Henry anxiously 
waited for some pretext to ruin More, those miscreants 
who are ever ready to minister to a prince's worst passions, 
began to search diligently for accusations against him; 
and, strange as it may seem, the first crime laid to his 
charge was corruption in his judicial capacity. One 
Parnel accused him of having made a decree against him 
in the court of chancery, at the instance of Vaughan his 
adversary ; for which More had received, at the hands of 
Vaughan's wife, (Vaughan himself having been confined 
at home through illness,) a great gilt cup as a bribe. 
More, having been brought before the council to answer 
this accusation, readily owned that, as the cup had been 

* Roper, p. 32. Hoddesdon, p. 78. t Roper, p. 40. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 81 

brought him for a new year's gift, long after the decree 
was made, he had not refused to receive it. No sooner 
was this confession uttered than the minions of the king, 
and the partisans of Anne Boleyn, thinking that he was 
at length caught in a snare, began loudly to express their 
exultation. More, after allowing them to proceed for 
some time, gravely requested, that, as they had kindly 
listened to one part of the tale, they would now vouchsafe 
to hear the other. He then informed them, that having, 
after much solicitation, received the cup, he had ordered 
his butler to fill it immediately with wine, of which he 
drank to Mrs. Vaughan ; and when she had pledged him 
in it, he, in his turn, insisted on her again presenting it in 
his name, as a new year's gift, to her husband ; and Mrs. 
Vaughan, with much reluctance, actually found herself 
obliged to carry it back. The truth of this statement was 
immediately sworn to by the woman herself, and other 
persons who happened to be present at the time. # 

In this manner terminated various accusations of the 
same description, which were now brought against him. 
Far from accepting of any previous gift, which might have 
biassed his judgment in the decision, the result invariably 
proved, that he had refused the most trifling token of 
gratitude from those whom his equity had righted. It 
was proved that he had received another cup, and, pleased 
with the pattern, had retained it ; but it appeared at the 
same time, that, as the only condition of accepting it, he 
had obliged the giver to receive in return a cup of much 
greater value.-f- On another occasion two silver flagons 
were sent him by a suitor in chancery: when they were 
presented by the gentleman's servant, More desired one 
of his men to take him to the cellar, and let him have his 
flagons filled with the best wine ; then, turning to the 
messenger, " Tell thy master," said he, " if he like it, let 
him not spare it." J A lady, in whose favour he had 

* Roper, p. 35. f Ibid, p. 36. 

X Bacon's Woi'ks, fol. edit. 1740, vol. iii., p., 275. 

G 



82 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

made a decree in chancery against a nobleman of rank, 
having, as a token of her gratitude, presented him with a 
pair of gloves, and in them forty pounds in angels,* as a 
new year's gift, More took the gloves ; but, pouring out 
the money, and returning it, said with a smile, " Since it 
would be contrary to good manners to refuse a new year's 
gift from a lady, I am content to take your gloves ; but as 
for the lining, I utterly refuse it."f 

An act, passed in the next session of parliament, gave 
Henry a more promising opportunity for prosecuting his 
revenge against More. It declared the king's marriage 
with Catharine to be unlawful and void, ratified his 
marriage with Anne, and fixed the inheritance of the 
crown, first in her issue, and afterwards in the king's legal 
heirs. The same act commanded an oath to be taken in 
support of its provisions, under the penalty of misprision 
of treason ; while all who should speak or write against 
the king's marriage with Anne were declared to be 
traitors. J This oath, extended by the ministers greatly 
beyond the meaning of the act, was administered chiefly 
to those who, from their rank and influence, could pro- 
mote or obstruct the settlement of the crown ; and Henry 
lost no time in requiring the obedience of More, expect- 
ing that the penalties annexed to the refusal of the oath 
would effectually enforce those arguments which had so 
often been urged in vain. At a committee of the cabinet 
council, which was ordered to sit at Lambeth, several 
ecclesiastics of distinction, and More, but no other layman, 
were summoned to appear and take the oath. 

The period which he had long foreseen was now arrived, 
since there was no alternative left but either to renounce 

* An angel was an old English coin of the value of ten shillings. Its 
denomination was adopted to commemorate a pun of Pope Gregory the 
Great, which seems to have highly flattered the vanity of the nation. 
Struck with the fair complexions and blooming countenances of some 
Anglo-Saxon captives who had been brought to Rome, he had observed, 
that, instead of Angles, they ought to be termed Angels. 
f Roper, p. 36. % Herbert, p. 294. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 83 

his integrity, or incur the penalties of the statute. On 
the part which he was to act he indeed required no 
deliberation ; but a final separation from his beloved 
family (for the character of Henry left him no certainty 
that he should see them again) was a prospect which he 
could not behold unmoved.* Obliged, however, to wear 
smiles on his countenance, that he might not increase 
those apprehensions with which they w r ere already agi- 
tated, he endeavoured to take leave of them with the 
same affectionate composure as when the regret of a 
temporary parting was compensated by the assurance of a 
speedy return. Having privately settled his affairs, he 
retired, on the morning of his departure for Lambeth, into 
his chapel; where, after taking the sacrament, and per- 
forming some other religious ceremonies, he spent some 
time alone in finally closing the account between his mind 
and the world. When the hour of departure arrived, he 
came forth with a countenance full of composure and 
cheerfulness. " I thank our Lord the field is won," said 
he, with an air of triumph, to his son-in-law, Mr. Roper, 
as he seated himself in the barge which was to convey him 
to Lambeth.f From this period he spoke and acted as a 
man who had renounced the cares of the world, and was 
scarcely capable of being moved, unless by the pleasures 
which he anticipated. To one who looked forward with 
the fullest assurance to a happy immortality, and who felt 
that nothing could compensate a deviation from integrity, 
an escape from a tyranny which endeavoured to make him 
renounce his most private and sacred opinions, was a cause 
of unfeigned exultation. If the ties of kindred still drew 
from him, by a sudden impulse, some sympathetic expres- 
sions, his usual demeanour was not less composed or cheer- 
ful than if the prospect of the longest and happiest life had 
been opened before him. Gay without an effort, and sportive 
wherever an occasion offered, he seemed resolved that no 
friend should weep, and no enemy triumph over his fate. 

* Stapleton, p. 303. f Roper, p. 41. 

G 2 



84 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

When called before the council at Lambeth, he de- 
clared that he had no objection to swear to the prescribed 
order of succession, since he considered the parliament as 
fully entitled to regulate that matter in any way which it 
thought proper ; and to this effect he offered to take an 
oath drawn up by himself. But the terms of the oath, as 
they at present stood, he declared to be irreconcilable to 
his conscience, since they asserted the illegality of the 
king's first marriage, and the legality of his second. Many 
arguments and solicitations were employed by his friends 
to overcome his scruples; but, though much affected by 
the earnest entreaties of Cranmer, the primate, and Crom- 
well, secretary of state, who highly esteemed and loved 
him, he adhered to his resolution in spite of his feelings, 
and in a gentle but firm manner persisted in his refusal. 
He was in consequence committed for some days to the 
custody of the abbot of Westminster, and in the mean time 
the course to be taken with him was debated in council. 
Archbishop Cranmer earnestly contended, that his propo- 
sal of swearing distinctly to maintain the order of suc- 
cession should be accepted, without confining him to the 
prescribed terms of the oath. But Henry, whose resent- 
ment was now rendered wholly ungovernable by resist- 
ance, resolved that More should either yield or perish, 
and insisted that the penalties of the statute should be 
enforced, and that he should be immediately committed 
to the Tower. His friend Fisher, bishop of Rochester, 
who had refused to take the oath upon the same grounds, 
was sentenced to the same confinement.* 

It was now that More had an opportunity of proving to 
his enemies how little power they had over him, and with 
what ease he could sport, not only with the threats, but 
with the actual execution of their vengeance. He entered 
the Tower as if returning to his home, and conversed with 
the same tone of pleasantry which he was accustomed to 
maintain in his domestic circle. When the porter at the 

: * More, p. 220. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 85 

Tower gate, according to custom, demanded his upper 
garment ; " Marry, friend, here it is," said he, giving 
him his cap ; " I am sorry it is not better, for thy sake." 
" Nay, sir," replied the porter, " I must have your gown ;" 
and this also he immediately gave him with the same good 
humour.* In ridicule of the insidious practice of placing 
spies to watch and report the words and actions of state 
prisoners, he called his servant, John A wood, who could 
neither read nor write, and swore him before the lieutenant 
of the Tower, that if he should at any time hear him 
speak, or see him write, any thing against the king, the 
council, and the government of the realm, he should im- 
mediately give information of it. The lieutenant, who had 
formerly received favours from him, began to apologize for 
the wretched accommodation with which the dread of the 
king's displeasure obliged him to receive his benefactor. 
" Mr. Lieutenant," said More, interrupting him, " when- 
ever I find fault with the entertainment you provide for me, 
do you turn me out of doors."*f* 

The nature of his confinement was in correspondence 
with the rigour of Henry's character. None of his friends 
or his family were at first allowed to visit him ; and it was 
an unexpected act of royal clemency, when his favourite 
daughter, Margaret, the wife of Mr. Roper, by her unwea- 
ried and earnest supplications, at length obtained that 
permission. Susceptible by nature, and cultivated with 
unremitting care, the mind of this lady had improved to 
his fondest expectations. While celebrated for superiority 
in music, and the other elegant accomplishments of her 
age, she was still more distinguished for her eminent pro- 
ficiency in the learned languages. Cardinal Pole, a judge 
as well as a conspicuous patron of letters, was so struck 
with the beauty of her Latin style, as to be induced with 
difficulty to believe that what he had read of her composi- 
tions was written by a woman. She wrote two declama- 
tions in English, of which she and her father each turned 
* Roper, p. 42. + Ibid. 



86 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

one into Latin with such equal felicity, that it was doubt- 
ful which deserved the preference ; and her treatise on the 
Four Last Things was at once so elegant and forcible, 
that her father readily acknowledged its superiority to one 
of his own on the same subject.* Her emendations on the 
texts of the ancient authors were often very successful ; 
and one of them, on a Greek writer, is mentioned by an 
able judge as, in his opinion, equal to those of the most 
celebrated critics of Scaliger, Turnebus, or Salmasius.*j- 

With these accomplishments, Margaret was eminently 
possessed of the qualities which produce domestic happi- 
ness. Her deportment was modest and humble ; her dis- 
position gentle and affectionate. Equally distinguished 
as a wife and a mother, she was rewarded with the tender 
esteem of her husband, and the fond attachment of her 
children. With her father's disposition her own perfectly 
coalesced : she entered into all his sentiments, and was 
entrusted with the inmost feelings of his heart. From her 
praises, which he heard from the wise, the virtuous, and 
the accomplished, he derived peculiar gratification ; J and 
still more from the fond esteem with which she attributed 
to him whatever rendered her in any degree estimable. 
Before her entreaties could procure admission to him in 
prison, she thus wrote to him : — " What do you think, my 
most dear father, doth comfort us at Chelsea in your ab- 
sence ? Surely the remembrance of your manner of life 
passed amongst us, your holy conversation, your whole- 
some counsels, your examples of virtue. "§ 

The circumstances of the present interview, which might 
probably be their last, rendered it peculiarly affecting. 
After they had spent some time together in devotion, a 
practice which they did not neglect in their better fortune, 
More endeavoured, by some indifferent and cheerful con- 

* Stapleton, pp. 252 and 264. More, p. 139. 

t Le Clerc. Bibliotheque Choisie. 

X More, p. 141. Stapleton, p. 264. 

| Mrs. Roper's letter to her father in the Tower, in Stapleton, p. 256. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 87 

versation, to calm that agitation which his daughter 
strove in vain to repress. He spoke of the court, and 
learning that the young queen, intoxicated with her new 
honours, was occupied with one continued round of splen- 
dour, he lamented that she was blind to the precarious 
foundation on which her pleasures rested, and that she 
might so soon be overtaken by misfortunes which her mind 
was ill prepared to encounter. During this conversation, 
the eye of his daughter having been caught by a pro- 
cession, attending to the place of execution two priests 
condemned for the same crime of which her father was 
accused, she was unable to conceal the painful ideas which 
rushed upon her mind. More assumed a look of regret : 
" These holy men," said he, " are already accepted in the 
sight of Heaven, and their virtue is now to be rewarded by 
admission into the happiness for which they have prayed ; 
while your father, sinful and undeserving as he is, must 
still linger here in anxious expectation, till the measure of 
his trial is completed." When she was at length about 
to depart, he privately committed to her charge his hair 
shirt and knotted whip, the constant attendants of his 
more prosperous days. To her alone, from whom he con- 
cealed no weakness or virtue, the secret of his possessing 
them was known ; and, dreading that he might no longer 
be able to hide from his enemies an expression of zeal 
which might be construed into ostentation, he took this 
opportunity of delivering them to his daughter. # 

An interview with his wife, for which permission was 
some time after obtained, if not so affecting to his feelings, 
equally proved his superiority to his fate. Mrs. More, as 
we have already observed, was an excellent economist and 
manager of a family, qualities for which she had been 
selected by her husband ; but, although she had so long 
enjoyed the benefit of his conversation, and had even, in 
compliance with his wishes, applied herself, at a very 
unsuitable age, to the acquisition of elegant accomplish- 
* Roper, pp. 28 and 43. 



88 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

ments, yet her habits of mind had been too completely 
formed to be susceptible of much change. She could not 
by any means enter into her husband's sentiments with 
regard to the vanity of riches, the folly of worldly splen- 
dour, or an inviolable adherence to principle : nor could 
she conceive that the approbation of one's own mind might 
not be sufficiently reconciled with those small deviations 
from absolute integrity, which the common practice of very 
reputable persons sanctioned. When her husband quitted 
the chancellorship, she had reproached him with the 
unaccountable whim which led him to reduce his family 
to beggary and disgrace. She now visited him in the 
Tower, to remonstrate with him on what seemed a still 
more incomprehensible act of folly. " She could not 
understand," she said, " how he, who had always been 
reputed so wise a man, should now so play the fool, as to 
be contentedly shut up in a close, filthy prison with rats 
and mice, when he might enjoy his liberty, and the king's 
favour, if he would but do as all the bishops and other 
learned men had done. And as he had a good house to 
live in, his library, his gallery, his garden, and all other 
conveniences handsome about him, she could not conceive 
what he meant by wilfully tarrying in this imprisonment." 
More, having heard her patiently to an end, asked her 
with a smile, " whether that house was not as nigh to hea- 
ven as his own?" As the good lady discovered much 
indignation at this indifferent treatment of her prudential 
reasonings, he altered his tone, and very seriously assured 
her, " that he saw no great cause for joy in the things 
which she had mentioned, in a house which would so soon 
forget its master ; that, if he were under ground but seven 
years, and then returned to visit it, he should find it pos- 
sessed by those who would bid him begone, and tell him 
it was none of his. And how uncertain," continued he, 
"would be my tenure of these enjoyments! Surely that 
man would be imprudent indeed, who should endanger the 
loss of a happy eternity for a thousand years of pleasure ; 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 89 

yet how much more foolish to risk eternity for what is not 
secure during one day!" # 

The progress of the national change in religion soon 
prepared fresh trials for his fortitude. Henry, delighted 
with his new ecclesiastical powers, and enraged at the 
measures which the court of Rome had adopted against 
him, had come to an open breach with the pope, and 
resolved to carry matters to the utmost extremity. While, 
by one act of parliament, he procured himself to be de- 
clared, without reservation, supreme head of the church, 
his authority was enforced in another by a provision, which 
rendered it high treason to deny, by word or writing, this 
or any other of his titles. f This act, as it emancipated 
the nation from the yoke of Rome, and destroyed the vene- 
ration in which her superstitions had so long been held, 
was every way politic and meritorious • but it was only the 
passions of Henry that ministered to the public good, for 
his intentions were as depraved as his conduct was atro- 
cious. To revenge his quarrel, and extend his power, he 
wrested the supremacy from the pope ; to procure supplies 
for his prodigality, he pillaged the monasteries : but while 
he gratified his passions by these encroachments on the 
church, he adhered with the most obstinate bigotry to 
such of her superstitious tenets as did not immediately 
thwart his inclinations. Encouraged by the tame submis- 
sion with which his most tyrannical mandates were 
received by his subjects, he at length resolved that his 
own creed should be their only rule of faith, and that the 
sole crime in religion should be a dissent from his opinions. 
Provided by the act against denying his supremacy on 
the one hand, and by the existing laws against heretics on 
the other, with the means of exterminating all who should 
refuse a conformity to his will, he proceeded with the most 
impartial cruelty to massacre those Papists who would not 
abjure the pope, and those Protestants who would net 
acknowledge transubstantiation. By a refinement in bar- 
* Roper, p. 46. f 26 Henry VIII. c. 1 and 13. 



90 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

barity, the heretics and the adherents of the pope were 
dragged on the same hurdle to the fires in Smithfield. 

Afraid, perhaps, that such enormities would rouse the 
public detestation, Henry at first affected to be deeply 
grieved at the measures, which he represented as forced on 
him by the laws ; and, as outward tokens of his sorrow, 
caused the hair of his head to be cut short, and his beard 
to be cut instead of shaven. # But he had soon waded 
too deep in blood, and become too familiar with murder, 
longer to regard the opinions of mankind. On looking 
back to these scenes, we are astonished that such a mon- 
ster should have been permitted to reign or to live ; but 
the state of men's minds at that period sufficiently accounts 
for their unresisting submission. The nation was divided 
into two great parties, the favourers of the old and of the 
new doctrines, and Henry seemed to waver between the 
two. Each of them, aware of the headlong violence of his 
passions, was afraid, by any show of opposition, to throw 
him into the arms of its adversary; and hoped, by an 
excess of submission, to win him over to itself. To such 
a degree also were the feelings of humanity blunted by 
religious bigotry, that each party seemed more gratified 
with the sufferings of its antagonists, than incensed by the 
injuries of its own members ; and the most barbarous act 
of which Henry could be guilty, was sure to be loudly 
applauded by one part of the nation. His cruelties are 
therefore to be charged on his subjects, almost as much 
as on himself. Any man of strong passions, if entrusted 
with uncontrouled power, and abetted in his most wanton 
excesses, would, like him, disgrace human nature by his 
enormities. 

Finding the fires of Smithfield too slow to consume the 
heretics and Catholics who refused compliance with his 
will, Henry determined to strike a general terror by mak- 
ing some illustrious examples. f For this purpose, More 
and Fisher, who still lay in the Tower, were selected ; and 
* Herbert, p. 310. f Ibid. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 91 

to the latter the first application was made for submission 
to the new order of things. But Fisher, who, according 
to the prescribed forms of installation, had already sworn 
to the pope's supremacy, could not be prevailed on to com- 
mit what he accounted an act of perjury, in acknowledg- 
ing the supremacy of the king. His fate was precipitated 
by an ill-judged interference of the pope, who endeavoured 
to deter Henry from a farther prosecution by threats, and 
even sent a cardinal's hat to Fisher, as a martyr to the 
Catholic cause. The venerable prelate, in whom nature 
was almost exhausted by the pressure of years, and by 
the severities he had suffered, underwent the formality of 
a trial, was condemned and executed. 

The fate of Fisher is said to have been intended by 
Henry as a warning to More, whose great authority at 
home and abroad, increased as it had lately been by his 
intrepid integrity, rendered the king more and more de- 
sirous to gain him over.* A committee of the privy 
council were, therefore, appointed to visit him in the 
Tower, and prevail on him to acknowledge the king's su- 
premacy ; or if, after every effort, they failed, they were 
instructed to draw from him such an explicit denial of it, 
as might afford a sufficient foundation for a charge of high 
treason. But argument or artifice were alike unable to 
extort either of these declarations from More. His opi- 
nions, with regard to the pope's supremacy, were indeed 
abundantly liberal, and seem to have been guided, not by 
veneration for the office, but by considerations of public 
utility. At one period of his life, he considered the suc- 
cessor of St. Peter as merely entitled to a sort of primacy, 
which might be of much advantage in regulating the 
affairs of religion. f But on looking more narrowly into 
the question, while employed in revising Henry's defence 
of the pope's authority, he perceived that the simple pri- 
macy, which he had formerly been inclined to allow him, 
would, without more extensive powers, be almost nu- 

* Herbert, p. 311. f More's letter to Secretary Cromwell. 



92 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

gatory. # The impressions which he then received, having 
been gradually strengthened by the convulsions of the 
Reformation, and by the violent controversies in which 
he engaged, he appears at length to have been convinced 
that a high degree of authority on the part of the pope, 
in the decision of religious matters, was the only method 
of restoring the Christian world to prosperity and harmony. 
Still his ideas of the supremacy were not without limits ; 
for the decisions of general councils, proceeding from the 
collected wisdom of so many able men, he accounted su- 
perior to the decrees of the papal court ;f and, far from 
desiring that the pope should anywise interfere with the 
temporal jurisdiction of the kingdom, he had cheerfully 
given his support to the statute of praemunire, which de- 
stroyed all undue influence over the English ecclesiastics. J 
If these considerations rendered him averse to abjure 
the authority of the pope, the concomitant requisition, the 
acknowledgment of Henry's supremacy, was attended with 
insuperable objections. To place his conscience at the 
mercy of such an umpire, to receive, renounce, or alter the 
articles of his faith, according as the passions or the whim 
of a capricious tyrant dictated, were conditions to which 
the mind of More could never submit ; yet all these were 
implied in the required acknowledgment. Resolved, there- 
fore, to stop short of such concessions, yet desirous to 
afford his enemies no just pretext for their persecution, he 
determined to express no opinion whatever on the subject. 
While concealed within his own breast, his sentiments, 
even if erroneous, could do no injury; and the statute 
itself was not so unjust as to construe silence into a crime. 
All the efforts of the committee could, therefore, draw 
from him nothing more explicit than the ambiguous ex- 
pression, " that the act was a two-edged sword : if he 
answered one way, it would destroy his body ; if another, 
it would ruin his soul." 

* More's letter to Secretary Cromwell. f Ibid. 

X Burnet's History of the Reformation, vol. i., p. 120, edit. 1715. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 93 

The fresh indignation which the result of this interview 
occasioned in Henry, was soon perceptible in the increased 
rigour of More's imprisonment. On pretence that he 
might write something against the king's supremacy, or 
second marriage, he was deprived of pen, ink, and paper, 
and even of all his books. Cut off, by this wanton act of 
barbarity from the only intercourse which had for some 
time been allowed him with his family and friends, he had 
still the fortitude to triumph over his regret, and devise 
expedients to remove its cause. When he could by any 
means procure a little paper, he contrived, with the 
assistance of a piece of coal, to write to his beloved 
daughter, to his wife, and some chosen friends ; still en- 
deavouring to inspire their minds with that tranquillity, 
w T hich the miseries of his confinement, and the certain 
approach of death, were unable to wrest from his own.* 

After having been imprisoned in the Tower upwards of 
a year, he was at length brought to trial ; and here he 
proved that, if he was unmoved at the approach of death, 
his indifference was nowise allied to the carelessness of 
despair. Though obliged to support himself on a staff, 
from the weakness contracted during his rigorous confine- 
ment, yet his countenance, firm, composed, and animated, 
showed how fully his mind was collected, and how well 
his faculties were prepared to support him in a vigorous 
defence. f The charges exhibited against him proved, by 
their weakness, and the harsh terms in which they were 
couched, the eagerness of the court to accomplish his ruin. 
The silence he had maintained, when questioned about 

* Roper, p. 55. A letter written in this manner to a particular friend, 
is inserted in Jortin's Life of Erasmus, vol. ii., p. 702. This epistle is 
employed in expressing his sense of many obligations, and in testifying 
how sweet was the remembrance of this friendship, even when the world 
was now no longer any thing to him, who daily waited in expectation of 
a passage to the next. At the conclusion he thus subscribes himself: 
" Thomas Morus : frustra fecero si adjiciam tuus ; nam hoc jam nescire 
non potes, quum tot beneficiis emeris : nee ego nunc talis sum, ut referat 
cujus sim." 

t Hoddesdon. p. 105. 



94 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

the act, was affirmed to be malicious ; the ambiguous ex- 
pression which had been drawn from him, was attempted 
to be construed into a positive denial of the supremacy; 
and some intercourse by letter, which had passed in the 
Tower between him and the bishop of Rochester, was also 
inserted among his crimes. # 

The evident weakness of these allegations he unex- 
pectedly found strengthened by the appearance of a 
witness, who charged him with having, in his presence, 
directly denied the king's supremacy. This witness was 
one Rich, who had raised himself to the office of solicitor- 
general, and aspired to still higher legal honours by 
becoming the obsequious tool of Henry's cruelties. Ren- 
dered, by his cunning, duplicity, and unhesitating perfidy, 
a fit instrument for inveigling state prisoners into un- 
guarded expressions, which might afterwards be produced 
against them, he had, in this capacity, already contributed 
to furnish a colour for the condemnation of the bishop of 
Rochester. Having been sent with others to execute the 
order by which More was deprived of his books and writing 
materials, he seized this opportunity to draw the prisoner 
into a snare. With this view, while the others were 
employed in executing the commission, he addressed him- 
self to More in a style of great friendship, expressing a 
high admiration of his wisdom, learning, and knowledge 
of the law ; and gradually turning the discourse to the sub- 
ject of the supremacy, he begged leave to ask, as merely 
in the way of conversation, whether, if it were enacted by 
parliament that he, Richard Rich, should be king, More 
would acknowledge him to be so ? More replied, without 
hesitation, that he certainly should, since parliament was 
entitled either to make or depose a king.f Rich then 
inquired, whether, if the parliament should appoint him 
supreme head of the church, More would not show equal 
deference to its authority ? More replied, that the cases 
were widely different : that parliament might interfere with 
* Herbert, p. 311. f Ibid, p. 312. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 95 

perfect propriety to regulate the succession of our temporal 
princes ; but as to the other question, he would, in his 
turn, beg to know, whether, if an act of parliament were 
passed ordaining that God should not be God, Mr. Rich 
would submit in this instance to its authority ? Rich 
replied, that he certainly should not ; since it would be 
absurd to attribute such power to parliament.* 

Thus ended the conversation; but as the expressions 
which had passed were insufficient for the purposes of the 
solicitor, he resolved to frame the story to his own views. 
At the trial he came forward and swore, that, on his 
acknowledging, in answer to a case put to him by More, 
that no parliament could make a law that God should not 
be God, More had rejoined, " No more can the parlia- 
ment make the king supreme head of the church." Asto- 
nished at the perfidy and daring perjury of his accuser, 
More turned round indignantly to his judges : — " If I were 
a man, my lords," said he, " that did not regard an oath, 
I needed not at this time, and in this place, as is well 
known to you all, stand as an accused person: but, if 
this testimony which you, Mr. Rich, have given be true, 
then I pray that I may never see the face of God ; which I 
would not say, were it otherwise, to gain the whole world." 
This solemn asseveration from a man, whose most peculiar 
virtue was an inviolable adherence to truth, seemed so 
much to outweigh, in the minds of the j ury, the dubious 
deposition of Rich, that the latter, confounded and morti- 
fied, endeavoured to confirm his evidence, by bringing for- 
ward the others who had been employed with him in the 
commission. But they, conscious of its falsehood, and 
yet afraid to declare the truth, deposed that they had at 
the moment been so much occupied with carrying away 
the books and papers, as to give no attention to the con- 
versation, f 

The evidence of the principal witness being thus shaken, 
More proceeded to expose the futility of the other charges, 
* Roper, p. 48. Stapleton, p. 320. -f- Roper, pp. 40, 51. 



96 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

with a force and eloquence which seemed to remove every 
doubt from the minds of his audience. But the firmest 
conviction of his innocence could not be expected to out- 
weigh, with his judges, the hopes of royal favour, and the 
imminent danger of their lives. Almost without delibera- 
tion, and as if the minds of the jury had been made up 
before the trial, he was declared guilty of high treason, 
and condemned to die as a traitor. # He heard the sen- 
tence pronounced without any sign of surprise or indigna- 
tion, and briefly addressed himself to the court, which 
consisted of a select commission of peers and judges. 
" My lords," said he, " I have nothing further to add, 
but that, as the blessed Apostle Paul was present and con- 
sented to the death of Stephen, and yet both are now holy 
saints in heaven, where they shall continue in friendship 
for ever ; so I earnestly trust and pray, that though your 
lordships have now been judges on earth to my condemna- 
tion, we may yet hereafter all meet together in everlasting 
love and happiness. "f 

On his return from Westminster Hall to the Tower, his 
fortitude had to undergo a severer trial. His favourite 
daughter, Margaret, apprehending that this might be the 
last opportunity of seeing her beloved father, had sta- 
tioned herself at the Tower wharf, where he would neces- 
sarily pass. But when he appeared in sight, with the axe, 
the emblem of condemnation, borne before him, her feel- 
ings could no longer be controlled. Regardless of the 
spectators, she burst through the crowd, and through the 
guards which surrounded him, and, clinging round his 
neck, hung upon him in an agony of despair. While the 
tears streamed from her eyes, the only words that could 
force an utterance were, "My father! oh, my father!" 
More, while he pressed her to his heart, endeavoured to 
calm her agitation : he reminded her that she well knew 
all the secrets of his soul ; that the knowledge of his inno- 

* Regin. Poli. Defens. Eccl. Anglic, lib. iii. Stapleton, p. 339. 
t Roper, p. 54. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 97 

cence ought to lessen her dismay at his approaching fate ; 
and that resignation was due to the will of God, without 
whose permission none of these events could take place. 
At length she made an effort to recover herself, and faintly 
bidding him adieu, suffered the attendants to lead her 
away. But she had proceeded only a few paces, when 
the thought that she had seen her father for the last time 
rushed with irresistible poignancy on her mind. She again 
burst through the crowd ; again hung upon his neck, and 
gave way to all the bitterness of her anguish. Her father, 
though his mind had long been prepared to meet his fate, 
and though its approach had been wholly unable to dis- 
compose his fortitude, could not look unmoved on her 
distress ; and a tear, which stole down his cheek, betrayed 
the emotion which he struggled to conceal. The specta- 
tors, deeply affected, beheld this tender scene in silence ; 
and even the guards could not refrain from tears, while 
they gently forced her from the arms of her father.* 

With this affecting interview his sufferings seemed to 
be concluded. On his return to the Tower, he found an 
opportunity of writing once more to his daughter; and 
while he expressed the gratification which he derived from 
the last instance of her filial affection, he endeavoured 
to convince her of the happiness which he felt at his 
approaching deliverance from earthly sorrows. f Hence- 
forth, indeed, his mind seemed fully restored to its habi- 
tual cheerfulness ; and his enemies learnt with surprise, 
that their promises or threats were equally the objects of 
his pleasantry. Henry, still unwilling to persuade him- 
self that all his power gave him no control over the mind 
of More, delayed his execution for a few days, in hopes 
that the nearer prospect of death might shake his resolu- 
tion. He even affected to show his favour for the pri- 
soner, by ordering that he should be simply beheaded, 
instead of being hanged and quartered, the usual punish- 
ment of traitors. More, when informed of this preposte- 

* Roper, p. 55. f Ibid. 

II 



98 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

rous affectation of mercy, exclaimed, with a smile, " God 
forbid that any of my friends or posterity should have 
similar demands to make on the royal clemency !" # 

His condemnation had taken place on the first of June,f 
and on the sixth of that month, Sir Thomas Pope, one of 
his particular friends, came very early in the morning, by 
the king's command, to acquaint him that his execution 
was to take place on that day at nine o'clock. More 
thanked his friend for the good news ; and when informed 
of his majesty's pleasure that he should use few words on 
the scaffold, he readily acquiesced, adding, that he had 
otherwise intended to say something, which, however, 
could have given no offence. He expressed a desire that 
his daughter, Margaret, might be allowed to attend his fu- 
neral ; and showed much satisfaction when he learnt that 
the king had already granted this permission to his whole 
family. Observing that Pope, who greatly esteemed and 
loved him, was deeply affected with the painful commission 
which he had been obliged to execute, he endeavoured to 
convince him, by the gaiety of his conversation, how little 
his lot was to be lamented ; and when his friend could not 
refrain from weeping bitterly at parting, he reminded him, 
with a look of exultation, that ere long they should meet 
in eternal felicity, j 

He now began to dress himself for his execution in the 
best apparel which he had by him ; and when the lieute- 
nant of the Tower, observing that this was too good for the 
executioner, who, according to custom, was entitled to 
whatever he wore at that time, begged of him to choose 
another dress, " If they were cloth of gold," said More, 
" I should think them well bestowed on him who was to do 
me so singular a benefit." Unwilling, however, to mor- 
tify the lieutenant by a refusal, he dressed himself in a 
gown of frieze, but, as a compensation, sent the execu- 
tioner an angel of gold.§ 

* Hoddesdon, p. 419. f Stapleton, p. 314. 

X Roper, p. 57. § Ibid. Stapleton, p. 353. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 99 

As he passed along to the place of execution on Tower- 
hill, the sympathy of the spectators was expressed by 
silence and tears. One man alone, from among the crowd, 
was heard to reproach him with a decision which he had 
given against him in chancery. More, nowise discomposed 
by this ill-timed expression of resentment, calmly replied, 
that if it were still to do, he would give the same decision.* 

His behaviour on the scaffold corresponded to the whole 
tenour of his conduct. Perfectly composed and collected, 
and dying in harmony with all mankind, his countenance 
was unaffectedly cheerful, and his words expressed a 
mind completely tranquil. He seemed to have resolved, 
or rather to have without an effort accomplished, that the 
faint-hearted should perceive nothing in the suffering, or 
even the solemnity of his end, which could deter them 
from encountering a similar fate. Perceiving that the 
scaffold was weakly erected, he said, in his usual tone, to 
the attending officer, " I pray thee, friend, see me safe 
up ; and for my coming down, let me shift for myself." 
Observing the executioner pale and trembling, he said to 
him, " Pluck up thy spirits, man, and be not afraid to 
do thy office : my neck is very short ; see, therefore, that 
thou do not mar thy credit by cutting awry." Having 
spent a short time in devotion, he took the napkin with 
which his eyes were to be bound, and calmly performed 
that office for himself,* then, laying his head on the block, 
he bade the executioner stay till he removed his beard, 
" for it," said he, u has committed no treason. "f 

* Herbert, p. 312. 

f Roper, p. 58. Herbert, p. 312. Stapleton, p. 353. To those who 
cannot enter into the character of More, and who cannot conceive that 
the prospect of death, under which their own hearts sink, should be 
viewed by any man with such complete indifference, his sportive humour 
on the scaffold may appear to detract from the dignity of his character. 
But, in fact, had he acted otherwise, his behaviour must have exhibited 
a. constraint which his soul was too elevated to feel ; he must have died a 
different man from what he lived. Such is the idea entertained of his 
behaviour on the scaffold, not only by his partial biographers, but by the 

H 2 



100 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

Thus perished Sir Thomas More, in the fifty-sixth year 
of his age. The furious controversies of the times caused 
him to be idolized by one party, and censured above mea- 
sure by another; but his fate excited unfeigned regret 
among those of all parties who could duly appreciate 
his talents, his acquirements and virtues. By those who 
knew him best, and who shared his intimate friendship, 
his loss was bewailed as an irreparable calamity. " More 
is dead !" says Erasmus, in the accents of despondency; 
" More, whose breast was purer than snow, whose genius 
was excellent above all his nation. " # 

Henry himself seemed to be touched with compunction 
at the act of which he had been guilty ; but it was only 
such compunction as can be felt by a tyrant inured to the 

most enlightened historians who have had occasion to mention it. Hume, 
after recounting them, adds, that "■ nothing was wanting to the glory of this 
end, but a better cause, more free from weakness and superstition." 
Lord Herbert exemplifies his wonderful fortitude by the same anecdotes ; 
and Lord Bacon, in his Apothegms, mentions the last of them in terms 
expressive of commendation. But the applause of Addison, whose deli- 
cate sense, both of morality and propriety, can only be questioned by 
those whose own feelings are obtuse, is still more pointedly expressed^ 
In the Spectator, No. 349, he thus speaks of More's behaviour on the 
scaffold : — " That innocent mirth, which had been so conspicuous in his 
life, did not forsake him to the last. He maintained the same cheerful- 
ness of heart upon the scaffold which he used to show at his table ; and, 
upon laying his head on the block, gave instances of that good humour 
with which he had always entertained his friends in the most ordinary 
occurrences. His death was of a piece with his life. There was in it 
nothing new, forced, or affected. He did not look upon the severing of 
his head from his body as a circumstance that ought to produce any 
change in the disposition of his mind ; and as he died under a fixed and 
settled hope of immortality, he thought any unusual degree of sorrow or 
concern improper on such an occasion, as had nothing in it which could 
deject or terrify him." Such is Addison's opinion of the last scene of his 
life. But it is to be recollected that this sporting with death would be as 
ridiculous in a man of a different character, as it was noble in More. 
" What," continues Addison, " was philosophy in this extraordinary man, 
would be frenzy in one who does not resemble him, as well in the cheer- 
fulness of his temper, as in the sanctity of his life and manners." 
* Epistle Dedicatory to the Ecclesiastes. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 101 

murder of his subjects. When informed of the death of 
More, he rose, in apparent confusion, from the game at 
which he played with Anne Boleyn, and, to ease his own 
feelings, sternly reproached her with being the cause of 
this man's death.* But here the expressions of his regret 
terminated, and the remains, as well as the family of his 
victim, were still the objects of his unmanly vengeance. f 
It was only by earnest prayers that his daughter Margaret 
at length obtained permission to remove her father's body 
from the Tower to the monument which he had erected for 
himself. It was not without danger that she, some time 
afterwards, conveyed away his head, which, as was usual 
in regard to traitors, had been fixed on London Bridge ; 
but, after a short imprisonment for this offence, she was 
graciously discharged. His fortune had been acquired by 
private industry, and impaired in the public service ; yet 
the remnant of it was seized as a forfeiture to the crown, 
although he had endeavoured to secure it to his family, 
by executing conveyances, previous to his condemnation 
for treason; and in such abject misery were they left, that 
they were unable even to purchase a winding-sheet for his 
remains ! It was supplied by the liberality of a friend. J 
His family were driven from his favourite residence at 
Chelsea, which soon passed into the hands of a court fa- 
vourite. § And all that they received from Henry was a 
pittance to the widow of twenty pounds a-year ! His son, 

* Stapleton, p. 365. More, p. 275. 

f Ibid. X More, p. 276. 

§ The fate of this house seemed to correspond in singularity with the 
fortunes of its master ; for perhaps no private mansion was ever in- 
habited by such a succession of illustrious possessors. By Henry it was 
granted to Sir William Pawlet, afterwards Marquis of Winchester, and 
lord high treasurer. From his family it successively passed into the 
hands of Lord Dacre, the great Lord Burleigh, the Earl of Salisbury 
his son, the Earl of Lincoln, Sir Anthony Gorges, the Earl of Middlesex, 
lord treasurer, Villiers Duke of Buckingham, Sir Bulstrode Whitlocke, 
one of Cromwell's peers, the witty and profligate Duke of Buckingham, 



102 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

John More, a man remarkable for the innocence of his 
manners, and, indeed, of too moderate abilities to be any- 
wise dangerous, had nearly shared the fate of his father. 
Condemned for refusing the oath of supremacy afterwards 
prescribed, he was, however, pardoned by an act of royal 
clemency. 

We have now seen the rise, progress, and end of a man, 
affording an example worthy of imitation to every indi- 
vidual of his race. In private life, as a son, a husband, a 
father, a master, and a friend, no character can be con- 
templated with greater delight, no conduct imitated with 
more certain advantage. Careful to discharge every duty, 
and limiting his good offices only by the extent of his 
power, he found all the relations which united him to his 
fellow men cemented by affection, and strengthened by 
gratitude. In the circle of his own family he persuaded 
where he might have commanded, he allured where he 
might have threatened, he was familiar where he might 
have been haughty, he employed ridicule in place of se- 
verity, and mingled good-humour with every injunction: 
he was thus beloved without any mixture of dread, and 
obeyed with all the alacrity of affection. No man was 
more successful in enforcing his instructions by example ; 
and the flow of happiness which seemed to arise from his 
activity, his love of literature, his integrity, his beneficence, 
his piety, proved an irresistible admonition to the practice 
of his precepts. 

His public life exhibited a rare combination of virtues 

the Earl of Bristol, the Duke of Beaufort, and finally of Sir Hans Sloane 
in 1738, who pulled it down two years afterwards. — Ly sons' Environs of 
London, vol. ii., p. 80. The choice of so many noble possessors, if it 
gives testimony to the taste of More in the selection of the site and the 
disposition of the grounds, is no less a satire on the president of the 
Royal Society, who, amidst all his professions of fine taste and regard 
for antiquities, levelled this ancient mansion with the ground, and made 
a present of the beautiful gateway, added by Inigo Jones, to some friend, 
for the ornament of an unknown villa. 



SIR THOMAS MORE. 103 

and vicissitudes. Without having ever deviated, or been 
suspected to deviate, from the strictest integrity, he rose 
to the greatest eminence as a lawyer, and the highest rank 
as a statesman. Without having embarked in one court 
intrigue, or been guilty of one improper compliance, he 
obtained the complete confidence of an arbitrary monarch : 
he enjoyed this confidence for years, without requesting 
one personal favour. The only art which he employed to 
obtain success in his profession, or the favour of his prince, 
was the strenuous discharge of his duty ; yet such a repu- 
tation did he acquire, that he was loaded with professional 
business amidst an extensive competition, and compelled 
by his sovereign to accept of the most coveted public 
employments. As a pleader, his exertions were never 
unapplauded ; as a judge, his decisions were never con- 
troverted; as a statesman, his counsels were never sus- 
pected. In one unfortunate conjuncture, we find the pre- 
judices of education, and the violence of theological 
dissensions, confounding his better judgment, and hurry- 
ing him into acts which neither justice nor humanity can 
pass uncensured ; yet, even then, he acted from mistaken 
principle. 

The succeeding transactions of his life present only 
obj ects of admiration. Anxiously procuring his dismission 
from office, when he could no longer serve his country 
without sacrificing his integrity, he retired from power, 
splendour, and affluence, to all the privations of a poverty, 
the fruit of his disinterested patriotism. Yet his cheer- 
fulness suffered no diminution ; and if he looked back on 
his former state, it was only with a smile of satisfaction at 
the temptations which he had escaped. As the evening 
of life darkened around him, his unaltered mind appeared 
only more brilliant from the contrast. Many have met 
an undeserved death on the scaffold with undaunted 
heroism ; but few have so completely overcome the appre- 
hension of quitting life, the anguish of parting with 



104 SIR THOMAS MORE. 

friends, and indignation at the malice of enemies, as to 
display, in their behaviour, no constrained fortitude, no 
affected tranquillity, no ill-disguised bitterness at the in- 
justice of their fate. Yet such was the case of More: so 
well did his mind appear reconciled to this world, and 
tempered for the next, that he seemed well pleased with 
his stay, yet gratified with his departure. 




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105 



WILLIAM CECIL, 

LORD BURLEIGH. 

William Cecil, descended from an ancient and respect- 
able family, was born at Bourn in Lincolnshire, in the year 
1520. # Both his father and grandfather held honourable 
appointments under Henry the Eighth. His father was 
master of the robes, an office, in that age, of considerable 
distinction. During his early education, his progress 
either exhibited nothing remarkable, or has been over- 
looked by his biographers, amidst the splendour of his 
succeeding transactions ; for we are merely informed, that 
he received the first rudiments of learning at the grammar 
schools of Grantham and Stamford. f But at St. John's 
College, Cambridge, to which he was removed in the 
fifteenth year of his age, he gave strong indications of the 
qualities calculated to raise him to future eminence. He 
suffered no irregularity to interrupt his pursuits, and seemed 
resolute to excel his fellow-students, by the certain means 
of incessant application. That he might daily devote 
several hours to study, without any hazard of interrup- 
tion, he made an agreement with the bell-ringer to be 
called up every morning at four o'clock. The strength 
of his constitution, however, did not correspond with the 
ardour of his mind ; for, in consequence of much sitting, 
without proper intervals of exercise, he contracted a painful 
humour in his legs; and though subsequently cured of 
this distemper, his physicians considered it as a principal 

* Lord Burleigh's Diary in the British Museum, Harleian MS. no. 46. 
t Life of William Lord Burghley, by one of his domestics, edited by 
C ollins in 1732, p. 6. 



\ 



106 LORD BURLEIGH. 

cause of that inveterate gout, which embittered the latter 
part of his life. # 

His indefatigable industry soon led to a proficiency 
which drew on him the particular notice of his teachers. 
The master of the college encouraged his perseverance by 
occasional presents,f but his ambition seems to have 
required no such stimulant. He began, at sixteen, to put 
in practice the methods then usual of acquiring literary 
celebrity, by delivering a public lecture. His first topic 
was the logic of the schools ; but, three years afterwards, 
he ventured to comment on the Greek language, which 
had hitherto been cultivated with more eagerness than 
success. He was afterwards ambitious of excelling as a 
general scholar; and successively directed his industry to 
the various branches of literature then cultivated at the 
university. J 

When he was supposed to have laid a sufficient foun- 
dation of useful knowledge, he was removed from the 
university to Gray's Inn, where he applied himself to the 
study of the law with the same method and industry as 
he had observed at Cambridge. He found leisure also for 
several collateral pursuits : the antiquities of the kingdom, 
and more especially the pedigrees and fortunes of the 
most distinguished families, occupied much of his atten- 
tion ; and, such was his progress in these pursuits, that no 
man of his time was accounted a more complete adept in 
heraldry.^ This species of information, had he adhered 
to his destination for the bar, might have been of little 
utility ; but, in his career of a statesman, it often proved 
of essential advantage. His practice was to record with 
his pen every thing worthy of notice which occurred to 
him either in reading or observation, arranging this in- 
formation in the most methodical manner, — a singular 
example of diligence, which is authenticated to posterity 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 6. 

f Fuller's History of the University of Cambridge, p. 95. 

X Lite of William Lord Burghley, p. 7- 

§ Bacon's Works, vol. iv., p. 358, edit. 1740. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 10? 

by collections of his manuscripts, still preserved in many 
public and private libraries. While from this practice he 
derived, besides other advantages, an uncommon facility 
in committing his thoughts to writing, he neglected not to 
cultivate an accomplishment still more essential to his 
intended profession, — a ready and graceful enunciation. 
By frequenting various companies, and entering into free 
discussion, he learnt to express himself with ease and 
confidence ; while the extent of his information, and the 
soundness of his judgment, prevented his fluency from 
degenerating into declamation. 

These acquisitions, united to a singular industry, must 
have raised him, at an early period, to great eminence in 
his profession, had not an incident, which introduced him 
to the notice of Henry VIII., soon diverted his attention 
to a different career. Cecil, having accidentally met in the 
presence-chamber with two Irish priests, who had come to 
court in the train of ONeil, their chieftain, happened to 
enter into an argument with them on the pope's supre- 
macy, of which they were zealous abettors ; and, by his 
superior knowledge and fluency, so baffled his antagonists, 
that they began to vent their uneasy feelings in violent 
expressions. This contest was conducted in Latin; and 
the particulars of it having been reported to Henry, the 
monarch, pleased with this indication of talents, and still 
more with the successful refutation of the pope's supre- 
macy, desired to see the young man; and, in the course 
of a long conversation, conceived so favourable an opinion 
of his abilities, that he resolved to take him into his 
service, and directed his father (the master of the robes) 
to find out an office which might suit him. As no 
suitable situation happened to be vacant at the time, his 
father pitched on the reversion of the custos brevium, in 
the common pleas, which was readily granted.* 

From the time of this introduction at court, which 
happened within the first year of his attendance at Gray's 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 9. 



108 LORD BURLEIGH. 

Inn, and in the twenty-second of his age, though Cecil 
still continued his application to the law, his mind appears 
to have been more intently fixed on political advancement. 
A very prudent and honourable alliance, which he this 
year contracted by marriage, proved an effectual channel 
to future preferment. Introduced by his father-in-law, 
Sir John Cheke, a man of great respectability and influ- 
ence, to the Earl of Hertford, maternal uncle to the young 
Prince Edward, and afterwards better known as Duke of 
Somerset, he was enabled to cultivate a connexion which, 
in a few years, elevated him to the highest ofhces. # 

About the commencement of the reign of Edward VI., 
he succeeded to his office of custos brevium, which brought 
him a revenue of two hundred and forty pounds a-year, 
equal to more than a thousand pounds in the present age. 
While this accession to his fortune placed him in com- 
parative affluence, and enabled him to prosecute his plans 
more at ease, a new family connexion, which he formed 
about the same time, opened to him the fairest access to 
royal patronage. His first wife having died in the second 
year of their marriage, leaving him a son, he now married 
a daughter of Sir Anthony Cook, the director of the 
young king's studies, a gentleman who derived from his 
situation an influence confirmed by his talents and virtue.f 
Few men have more directly accelerated their rise by 
matrimonial alliances than Cecil; yet such were the 
excellent qualities of this lady, that we might consider his 
attachment to her the result rather of personal affection, 
than of a view to political advancement. 

His preferment under the new reign was not neglected 
by Somerset, to whose friendship he was recommended by 
various circumstances. While his talents and consum- 
mate application rendered him most useful to any one 
placed at the head of affairs, his decided attachment to 
the Reformation gave him at this period a particular claim 

* Camden's Annal. Eliz. p. 774. 

f Life of William Lord Burghlev, p. 9. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 109 

to public trusts. The Protector, eager to extend his popu- 
larity by accelerating those changes in religion which 
were now so generally desired, committed the departments 
of government to the hands of such as were known to be 
firm advocates of the Reformation ; and, on this occasion, 
he created Cecil master of the requests, an appointment 
of trust and distinction.*" 

In the latter part of the same year, the young statesman 
attended his patron in the expedition against Scotland, 
and was present at the battle of Pinkey, where the 
arms of England proved so decisively victorious. Here he 
very narrowly escaped destruction : a friend, observing a 
cannon directly pointed at him, pushed him out of its 
line, and, in the very act, had his own arm unfortunately 
shattered by the ball.-f- Cecil, with his usual diligence, 
wrote an account of this expedition. On returning home, 
he enjoyed various advantages for prosecuting his views 
at court, and his talents were well calculated to second 
his opportunities. The insight into the characters of 
those around him, which he derived from careful habits of 
observation, enabled him to suit his behaviour to persons 
and circumstances ; and the prudent reserve of his conver- 
sation, joined to a perfect command of temper, preserved 
him from those imprudences which so often bar the way 
to promotion. He applied himself to gain the entire 
confidence of Somerset; and having unrestrained access 
to the young prince, both from the friendship of the 
Protector, and the situation of his father-in-law, he quickly 
acquired the esteem and attachment of Edward. So- 
merset readily listened to the solicitations of his nephew 
in behalf of their mutual favourite, and, in the following 
year, promoted Cecil to the office of secretary of state. J 

With a rapidity proportioned to his merits and his 
address, Cecil had now attained one of the highest stations 
in the government; but his continuance on this envied 

* Life of William Lord Burghlev, p. 10. f Ibid. 

% Lord Burghley's Diary. 



110 LORD BURLEIGH. 

height depended so much on the conduct of others, that 
the most consummate prudence on his part could not 
render him secure. He, also, was drawn along in the fall 
of his patron, which took place in little more than a year. 
Somerset appears to have been one of those unfortunate 
men, whose errors proceed rather from weakness than 
from vice, and whose good intentions are perpetually 
counteracted by a lamentable imprudence. Ambitious, 
rather than qualified to govern, he had taken advantage 
of his popularity to engross, in his own person, the whole 
powers of the council of regency, to which Henry, by 
his will, had entrusted the government; and though he 
showed no inclination to abuse his authority, yet he dis- 
played his ascendancy with an offensive ostentation. A 
profusion and magnificence, which might have served 
to increase his influence, contributed, by his imprudent 
management, to ruin the popularity which he so fondly 
courted. While he too eagerly grasped at wealth to 
support his expenses, the fortune which he suddenly 
amassed made his integrity suspected; and, on his pulling 
down several churches to procure more splendid materials 
for erecting his palace, the act was reprobated as sacri- 
lege, and his impiety regarded with horror. Even the 
best-intended measures often became, in his unskilful 
hands, the source of new calamities. By his rash and ill- 
concerted attempts to redress the grievances of the com- 
mon people, he not only provoked the nobility, but led 
the inflamed minds of the people themselves into excesses, 
which he was afterwards obliged to repress by severe 
military executions. His popularity at length became so 
much reduced, that the other members of the council of 
regency, whom he had stript of their just authority, 
ventured to attempt his overthrow; and, by a well-planned 
conspiracy, succeeded in committing him and his prin- 
cipal adherents to the Tower. 

The chief actor in this plot against Somerset was the 
Earl of Warwick, son to Dudley, the infamous tool of 



LORD BURLEIGH. Ill 

Henry the Seventh's extortions. Warwick inherited all 
the avarice and faithlessness of his father; and, being 
possessed of talents both for peace and war, he procured 
the patronage of Henry VIII., who could readily over- 
look hereditary taint, contracted in executing the man- 
dates of tyranny. By the favour of that monarch, Dudley 
was successively raised to the rank of nobility, created an 
admiral, and appointed a member of the council of re- 
gency. Yet, inflamed with an ambition which no sub- 
ordinate honours could satiate, he looked on the minority 
of Edward as a favourable opportunity for engrossing the 
chief direction of the government ; and only delayed his 
attempts until the increasing unpopularity of Somerset, to 
which he contributed by every art, should ensure their 
accomplishment. Succeeding, by the conspiracy which he 
had planned, to the power, though not to the title of the 
Protector, he surrounded the young king with his crea- 
tures, compelled the council to submit to his dictates, and 
proceeded to secure his ascendancy by new acquisitions 
of fortune and rank. The last Earl of Northumberland 
having died without issue, and his brother having been 
attainted, the title was now extinct, and the estate vested 
in the crown. Warwick procured a grant of these large 
possessions, and made himself be created Duke of Nor- 
thumberland. 

The views of this new ruler did not long prove adverse 
to Cecil ; for, after having been detained in the Tower 
about three months, he was discharged, and again found 
himself on the road to fortune. Northumberland, though 
awed by the previous popularity of Somerset, entertained 
little apprehension of his talents, and justly calculated that 
his partisans might be weaned by new prospects from 
their attachment to so feeble a leader. In Cecil he per- 
ceived the double advantage of influence over the young 
king, and of an uninterrupted application to business, while 
others wasted their time in cabals and intrigues. Aware, 
also, that with Cecil ambition was a predominant principle, 



112 LORD BURLEIGH. 

while his prudence was such as to divert him from all 
dangerous schemes, Northumberland might expect that 
this statesman would be faithful to those immediately 
possessed of power, and would prefer the prospect of 
present aggrandizement to the forlorn generosity of ad- 
hering to the ruined fortunes of Somerset. But whatever 
were the views of Northumberland, Cecil was, by his 
means, again appointed secretary of state; and, receiving 
the honour of knighthood, was admitted into the privy 
council.* 

This sudden release and subsequent elevation, by the 
enemy of his old patron, have exposed the motives of Cecil 
to suspicion. It has been alleged, that he had a secret 
understanding with Northumberland even before the fall of 
Somerset, and that his new preferment was the reward of his 
treachery. But while no grounds are produced for these 
accusations, the events which they are adduced to explain 
seem otherwise sufficiently accounted for. In joining 
Northumberland, Cecil abandoned none of his principles ; 
for the same measures, both in regard to religion and poli- 
tics, were now pursued as under the Protector : and if his 
conduct, in uniting with the decided enemy of his patron, 
be thought little consistent with honour or generosity, he 
only acted a part which Somerset himself speedily imitated. 
Northumberland, having completed the degradation of his 
rival, by extorting from him a public confession that he 
had been guilty of rashness, folly, and indiscretion, ac- 
counted him now so little formidable, that he ventured to 
affect the praise of generosity, by restoring him, not only 
to liberty, but to his seat in the council. Somerset, as 
mean in adversity as ostentatious in his better fortune, 
gladly accepted the boon ; and, after all the indignities 
which he had undergone, consented to give his daughter, 
Lady Jane Seymour, in marriage to Lord Dudley, the son 
of his adversary. , 

But the ambition of Northumberland, and the indiscre- 
* King Edward's Journal. Stow's Annals. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 1 L3 

tion of Somerset, soon converted their external appearances 
of amity into more fatal dissensions. Although the late 
Protector, by his imprudence and want of spirit, had be- 
come much degraded in the public estimation, yet, in the 
day of his humiliation, the envy once felt towards him 
subsided into a better feeling ; while the pride and am- 
bition of his rival failed not to excite considerable odium. 
His reviving popularity awakened the jealousy of Nor- 
thumberland, and his indiscretion, ere long, afforded a 
pretext for his destruction. While the mortifications 
which he had experienced could not fail to rankle in his 
bosom, his crafty antagonist endeavoured to goad him on 
to some rash and criminal enterprise. The creatures of 
Northumberland, who gained his confidence to precipitate 
his ruin, first inflamed his resentment, and then caught his 
hasty expressions of revenge ; they suggested to him plans 
for insurrection, for assassinating Northumberland, and 
then disclosed them as accusations against him. When 
a sufficient number of such charges had been accumulated, 
Somerset was suddenly arrested; tried before a jury of peers, 
among whom were Northumberland and some of his prin- 
cipal enemies ; found guilty of a capital crime ; and led, 
along with several of his friends, to the scaffold. 

The part which Cecil acted, during these renewed 
calamities of his early patron, seems more reconcilable to 
prudence than to gratitude. It is said, that when Somer- 
set, some time before his arrest, sent for him, and com- 
municated to him his apprehensions, the secretary, instead 
of suggesting any means to avoid his impending danger, 
coldly replied, " that if he was innocent, he might trust to 
that; and if he was otherwise, he could only pity him." # 
Pity, indeed, if he really felt it, was all that he bestowed ; 
for it does not appear that he interposed, either publicly 
or privately, to avert the destruction of his former patron. 
And when we consider the character of Somerset, we must 
allow that such an interposition would have been as im- 
* Kin^ Edward's Journal. 



114 LORD BURLEIGH. 

prudent as it was likely to be unavailing. The weakness 
and irresolution of this nobleman were such, that no de- 
pendence could be placed on his executing any scheme 
proposed for his safety; and as he was surrounded by 
spies who insinuated themselves into his confidence, any 
beneficial intelligence communicated to him, could scarcely 
have failed to reach his inveterate adversary. In these cir- 
cumstances, Cecil, by attempting the preservation of Som- 
erset, would have incurred an imminent hazard of sharing 
in his destruction. Without benefiting his patron, he would 
probably have lost his fortune, his liberty, or his life; 
leaving behind him only the praise of unsuccessful 
generosity. 

But whether we respect his prudence, or censure his 
ingratitude on this occasion, we cannot but applaud his 
conduct as a minister. While the court of England 
teemed with cabals, which occupied the incessant attention 
of the other public men, the secretary was diligently em- 
ployed in executing his official duties, and in devising 
schemes for the discharge of the public debt, or the im- 
provement of commerce. There still remains a complete 
statement of the king's debts in the month of February 
1551, printed from a manuscript drawn up by Cecil, and 
which must have comprehended the whole of the public 
responsibility at that period, since neither the debts nor the 
revenues of the king were as yet separated from those of 
the nation.* 

An important change, effected about this time in the 
commerce of London, is also attributed to his counsels. 
The carrying trade of the north of Europe, and of England 
in particular, had hitherto been engrossed, almost exclu- 
sively, by the merchants of the Hanse Towns. As the 
foreign intercourse, conducted through this channel, was 
found particularly productive to the revenue, it became an 
object with our monarchs to promote it to the utmost; 
and with this view, Henry III. induced a company of 
* See this paper in Strype's Memorials of Edward VI., book ii. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 115 

these merchants to settle in England, by the lure of a 
patent containing various privileges, exempting them from 
the heavy duties paid by other aliens, and placing them 
nearly on a footing with natives. This corporation was 
called, from their place of residence, the Merchants of the 
Steel-yard, and effectually excluded all rivals from a com- 
petition,— other foreigners by their exclusive privileges, 
and the English by their superior capital and skill. They 
continued, accordingly, from the time of their settlement, 
to engross nearly the whole continental trade of England. 
Their commerce was advantageous to the natives, as it 
opened a market to their produce, and induced them to 
devote their labour and capital to agriculture and manu- 
factures ; but it was attended, in the eye of the public, 
with various disadvantages. The gains of each individual, 
who partook of this monopoly, were apparently greater 
than those of the natives engaged in agriculture, manufac- 
tures, or internal commerce ; and the collective wealth of 
these foreign merchants was doubly conspicuous from their 
residence in one spot. The jealousy of the English was 
strongly excited. They complained that the natives had 
but toil for their portion, while strangers ran away with all 
the profit. Besides these imaginary evils, this mode of 
carrying on trade was attended with some real disadvan- 
tages. As it was chiefly conducted by foreign vessels and 
foreign seamen, it afforded little accession to the maritime 
strength of the country; a circumstance which, on the 
breaking out of a war, was felt as a serious evil. More- 
over, these merchants, on realizing a fortune, were apt 
to depart, and transfer to their own country that capital 
which, in the hands of natives, would have improved the 
soil, and accelerated the industry of this realm. The 
native merchants had often remonstrated against the privi- 
leges of these foreigners ; but Cecil seems to have been 
the first minister who effectually attended to their com- 
plaints. In consequence of his representations to the coun- 
cil, the merchants of the Steel-yard were deprived of their 

i2 



116 LORD BURLEIGH. 

charter, and subjected to the same impositions as other 
aliens. # From this measure, as it was speedily followed 
by a large increase of the shipping and foreign commerce 
of England, Cecil has derived much reputation ; yet, it is 
but too indicative of the unacquaintance of the age with 
the principles of trade. To abrogate the monopoly was a 
measure of evident propriety, inasmuch as, like all mono- 
polies, it tended to limit the extent of commercial deal- 
ings, obliging our countrymen to sell their commodities 
somewhat lower, and to pay for foreign articles somewhat 
higher, than they would have done had the competition 
been open. But, in what way ought this irregularity to 
have been remedied ? Not merely by cancelling the privi- 
leges of the Steel-yard merchants, and subjecting them to 
the same extra duties as other aliens ; but by putting all 
merchants, whether natives or foreign, on a footing of 
equality. Such a measure would, it may be alleged, have 
retarded the rise of the native merchants, inferior as they 
then were to foreigners in capital and experience : but in 
this, as in all other cases, the course which industry and 
capital would of themselves have taken, would have been 
the most advantageous to all parties. Our merchants con- 
fining themselves for a season to the inland trade, it would 
have expanded more promptly when our foreign trade 
absorbed little of our pecuniary means ; and the latter also 
would have fallen eventually into their hands, in conse- 
quence, not of acts of exclusion, but of the various advan- 
tages possessed by natives over foreigners. 

But had Cecil, or any other statesman in that age, 
attempted to admit foreigners on the footing of natives, he 
would have been represented by public clamour as aggra- 
vating the evil which he professed to remedy. The disad- 
vantages under which Cecil laboured are apparent in the 
fate of another project, which he entertained for the bene- 
fit of commerce. As the means of conveying mercantile 
intelligence were in former times extremely defective, and 
* Hay ward's Life and Reign of Edward VI . 



LORD BURLEIGH. 11? 

the regulations for levying the revenue were very imper- 
fect, it was usual to fix by law a staple, or regular market, 
for the chief commodities of a country, and oblige all its 
inhabitants to convey them thither for sale. Foreign 
merchants might thus reckon on a regular market, and 
government had the best opportunity of levying its imposts 
both on exports and imports. The staple of our wool, and 
other chief articles of exportation, was fixed by an early 
act of parliament in certain towns of England ; but was 
afterwards, in the reign of Edward III., wholly removed 
to Calais, which at that period came into our possession.* 
It was thence transferred to the flourishing but distant 
port of Antwerp, where it still remained in the reign of 
Edward VI. Cecil, perceiving the infinite disadvantages 
to w T hich the exportation of England was subjected by 
this regulation, proposed to abolish the staple at Antwerp, 
and, as a far more desirable substitute, to open two free 
ports in England, — one at Southampton, and another at 
Hull. A paper is still extant, containing the whole of this 
scheme clearly digested, exhibiting the arguments in its 
favour, and refuting the objections by which it might be 
opposed. But his colleagues in office were too little ad- 
vanced in commercial knowledge, and too much engrossed 
with state intrigues, to perceive the advantages or concur 
in the execution of this project. 

Cecil, in the mean time, did not neglect to cultivate the 
attachment of the young king. That prince, whose dili- 
gence, knowledge, and discretion far exceeded his years, 
seems to have been particularly delighted with a man so 
eminently distinguished for these qualities. The secretary 
was admitted into his inmost confidence, and was sup- 
posed to have had no small share in the productions osten- 
sibly attributed to Edward. It is said, that the Princess 
Mary, on receiving a letter from her brother, exhorting 
her to abjure the errors of popery, could not help exclaim- 
ing as she read it, " Ah ! Mr. Cecil's pen has taken great 
* 27 Edward III. cap. vii. 



118 LORD BURLEIGH. 

pains here." Yet he never employed his ascendancy over 
the young prince to procure extravagant grants, after the 
example which had been set by Somerset, Northumber- 
land, and the other courtiers. Aware that a fortune, 
accumulated by such means, always exposed the pos- 
sessor to envy, and might probably, in these unsettled 
times, be the cause of his destruction, he preferred the 
slower, but more secure method of acquiring wealth by 
the economical management of his regular salaries. By 
his appointment as chancellor of the order of the Garter, 
his income now received an addition of a hundred marks 
a-year; and it appears that after his father's decease, he 
also held the post of master of the robes. # 

Soon after this accession of honour and emolument, he 
found himself exposed, by his official situation, to dangers 
which all his prudence seemed insufficient to avert. The 
young king, who, by the extraordinary virtues and accom- 
plishments of his early youth, had taught the nation to 
look forward with fond expectation to his more mature 
years, began to exhibit indubitable symptoms of a rapid 
decline. Amidst the alarm which this unexpected cala- 
mity diffused, the ambitious Northumberland began to 
meditate more daring plans for the confirmation of his 
power, and even undertook to fix the succession to the 
crown in his own family. Four females stood next in the 
order of inheritance : Mary and Elizabeth, daughters of 
Henry VIII. ; Mary, Queen of Scots, grand-daughter of 
Henry's eldest sister ; and the Duchess of Suffolk, daugh- 
ter of his second sister. The title of the last, although 
evidently posterior to the others, Northumberland resolved 
to enforce as preferable to the whole. He represented to 
Edward, that his two half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, 
having been declared illegitimate by act of parliament, 
were for ever debarred from the succession; that the 
Queen of Scots, having been passed over in his father's 

* See a letter to him from Sir Edward Dymocke, in Lodge's Illustra- 
tions of British History, vol. i., p. 185. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 119 

will, was also to be considered as excluded ; and that, 
even had this objection not existed, she ought to be pre- 
vented from reducing; England as well as Scotland to a 
province of France, — an event which, unless prevented by 
her exclusion, her marriage with the dauphin rendered 
inevitable. Availing himself of the king's attachment to 
the Protestant religion, he depicted the dangers to which 
it would be exposed, if such bigoted Catholics as either of 
the Marys ascended the throne ; and as this obj ection did 
not apply to Edward's favourite sister, Elizabeth, who had 
been educated in the principles of the Reformation, he 
urged, that it was impossible to devise any pretext for 
excluding one sister, without excluding both. The prince, 
enfeebled by disease, and surrounded by the creatures of 
Northumberland, was at length overcome by his arguments 
and importunities, and consented to fix the succession in 
the Duchess of Suffolk, who was willing to waive her title 
in favour of her daughter, the Lady Jane Grey. To com- 
plete this artful scheme, Northumberland now procured 
the Lady Jane in marriage to his fourth son, Lord Guil- 
ford Dudley, and enjoyed the prospect of continuing to 
manage the affairs of the kingdom at his pleasure, and of 
transmitting the succession to his posterity. 

For this alteration in the succession to the throne, 
Northumberland obtained from the prince a patent, and 
required that it should be signed by all the members of 
the privy council ; a concession which the dread of his 
vengeance extorted even from those most averse to the 
transaction. Cecil, among the rest, affixed his name to 
the patent, but whether from inclination or compulsion has 
been disputed. While he is charged by some with having 
been very active in the enterprises of the duke, and with 
having assisted in drawing up the instrument for altering 
the succession,* he himself, in a memorial which he 
afterwards drew up in his justification, asserts, that both 
threats and promises were employed in vain to extort his 
* Hayward, vol. ii., p. 237- 



120 LORD BURLEIGH. 

concurrence in the attempt ; that he refused to subscribe 
the patent as a privy counsellor ; and that he was at length 
only prevailed on by the king's earnest entreaty, to write 
his name as witness to the royal signature. The character 
of Cecil leaves us, indeed, no room to suspect that he 
entered into the views of Northumberland farther than his 
own immediate safety required. He might have been 
sufficiently willing, had a fair opportunity offered, to set 
aside Mary, the next heiress, from whose bigoted attach- 
ment to popery he had nothing to hope, and every thing to 
apprehend. But the reasons which might have led him to 
oppose Mary, would have induced him to support Eliza- 
beth, and he knew that the objections against the title of 
Lady Jane were too weighty to be removed by the patent 
of a minor on his death-bed. Although parliament, with 
whom the ultimate right of confirming or altering the order 
of succession was acknowledged to reside, had enabled 
Henry VIII. to dispose of the crown by will, yet, as it 
had not empowered Edward to alter this disposition, his 
patent could not confer a legal title till ratified by a new 
act of the legislature. But, amidst the general indigna- 
tion excited by the ambition and rapacity of Northumber- 
land, was such a sanction likely to be obtained? or, if 
obtained, to ensure a general acquiescence? Influenced 
by such considerations, Cecil seems to have withdrawn 
himself, as far as personal safety would allow, from an 
enterprise originating in extravagant ambition, and likely 
to terminate in the ruin of its abettors. It is said, that 
when he found the project in agitation, he made such a 
disposition of his effects as might give them the best 
chance of security, in the event of his being imprisoned, 
or obliged to quit the kingdom. # 

On the death of Edward, Cecil found himself, along 
with the rest of the privy council, in the power of Nor- 
thumberland ; but, perceiving that total failure was soon to 
overtake the illegal measures of that infatuated nobleman, 
* Burnet's Hist, of Ref. vol. ii., p. 223. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 121 

he resolutely refused to draw up the proclamation de- 
claring the title of Lady Jane, or to write in its vindication, 
and the duke was not then in a situation to punish his 
disobedience. Soon afterwards he found means, along 
with the other privy counsellors, to escape and join Mary, 
who had already been proclaimed queen, and who was 
pleased to receive him very graciously. As he knew that 
among her partisans he had many enemies, and that they 
had already made some unsuccessful attempts to prejudice 
her against him, he took advantage of her present favour- 
able disposition to obtain a general pardon for whatever 
might have been culpable in his past conduct ; and with 
this indemnity he determined for the present to retire from 
public affairs. Mary, acquainted with his sagacity and 
great talents for business, was desirous to retain him in 
her service, and tendered to him the appointment which he 
had hitherto held ; but, as the change of his religion was 
an indispensable condition, he could not be prevailed on 
to accept these offers.* He was attached firmly and 
conscientously to the reformed church ; but had his re- 
ligious principles been less sincere/, prudence might have 
withheld him from embarking in the new government. 
The bigotry of Mary, and the violence of her prime mi- 
nister, Bishop Gardiner, made it easy to foresee that the 
restoration of the Catholic religion would be attempted by 
fire and sword ; and in the conflict between the zeal of the 
court and the resistance of the great maj ority of the nation, 
it was impossible not to anticipate sanguinary executions 
and dangerous convulsions. Cecil appears to have adopt- 
ed the resolution of keeping aloof from the cabals of either 
party, and of cultivating the private friendship of some of 
the new ministers, without giving any sanction to their 
public measures. By this means he both provided for his 
own safety, and was enabled to give occasional support to 
the cause which he favoured, without exciting the jealousy 
and resentment of the government. 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 11. 



122 LORD BURLEIGH. 

The court soon became divided into two factions, of 
which the one urged the extirpation of heretics by fire and 
sword, while the other, confiding in the ultimate success 
of what they deemed the true religion, were of opinion that 
these violent methods would only harden the minds of 
men against it. Of these parties, the former was ruled by 
Bishop Gardiner, a man very indifferent about religion, but 
naturally of a severe and violent temper, and exasperated, 
by some injuries, against the Protestants; while the 
moderate party was headed by Cardinal Pole, a man 
extremely devoted to his religious tenets, but too politic, 
if not too humane, to attempt their propagation by vio- 
lence. Expecting the safety of the Protestants chiefly from 
the ascendancy of the cardinal's counsels, Cecil attached 
himself warmly to his interests. He had procured himself 
to be nominated one of the honorary mission which had 
been sent by the court to invite over this prelate, who 
resided in Italy at the time of Mary's accession ; and he 
appears to have exerted himself successfully in acquiring 
his confidence, since we find him, in the following year, 
attending Pole on an embassy to the Continent. 

It soon, however, became necessary for Cecil to take a 
more open part in defence of the Protestants. The parlia- 
ment having been induced, by the intrigues of Gardiner 
and the bribes which he scattered among the members, to 
revive the old sanguinary laws against heretics, the court 
proceeded to carry them into execution with the most un- 
relenting cruelty. Bishops, venerable for age and virtue, 
were burnt in their own dioceses, and women are said to 
have been thrown, in the agonies of childbirth, into the 
midst of the flames.* Nothing could exceed the horror of 
the cruelties perpetrated, or the frivolity of the accusations 
on which the sufferers were condemned. Arrested on mere 
suspicion, and without having made any open profession 
of their creed, they were allowed only the alternative of 

* Burnet, vol. iii., p. 264, from an account of these transactions, writ- 
ten or corrected by Cecil. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 123 

signing a list of religious articles presented to them, or of 
beins; committed to the flames. All the established forms 
of law were now abandoned, and the prosecution of here- 
tics entrusted by the crown to a set of commissioners, 
whose unlimited powers to try and condemn any one on 
whom their suspicions might happen to alight, took away 
the protection of innocence, and rendered the subjects the 
sport of caprice or malignity. 

A general horror and indignation were the natural con- 
sequences of these cruelties ; and in the new parliament, 
which was summoned to meet in 1555, the court was made 
to feel the preponderancy of the Protestant interest, and 
the futility of its sanguinary proceedings. Notwithstand- 
ing the manifest danger of opposition, several measures 
proposed by government were vehemently resisted by the 
commons, and some wholly rejected. They were with 
difficulty prevailed on to pass an act, enabling the queen 
to restore to the church merely those tenths, first fruits, 
and impropriations which remained in the hands of the 
crown ; and could be induced to grant a portion only of 
the supplies demanded, though by no means exorbitant. 
They threw out two bills relative to religion, — one for 
incapacitating such as were remiss in the prosecution of 
heretics from being j ustices of the peace, and another for 
confiscating the estates of those who had quitted the king- 
dom on the score of religion.* 

In this opposition to the measures of the court, Cecil, 
who had been chosen, without solicitation, one of the 
members for Lincolnshire, bore a distinguished part ; and 
the rejection of the bill for confiscating the estates of the 
exiles is, in particular, attributed to the force of his elo- 
quence. This manly conduct exposed him to considerable 
danger, and he was once called before the privy council ; 
but while the others involved in the same accusation with 
him were sent to the Tower, he succeeded in obtaining a 
hearing before he should be committed, and made such a 
* Burnet, vol, ii.. p. 322. 



124 LORD BURLEIGH. 

satisfactory defence as procured his immediate acquittal. # 
The discretion of his conduct had indeed softened the ran- 
cour of his religious opponents, and procured him many 
friends among the Catholics, though convinced of his deci- 
ded attachment to the Protestant cause. The light in which 
his opposition in this parliament appeared to himself, we 
learn from the diary which he has left behind him : — " On 
the 21st of October," says he, " the parliament met at 
Westminster, and I discharged my duty, as a member, 
with some danger ; for although I had been elected against 
my inclination, yet I uttered my sentiments freely. I 
incurred much displeasure by this conduct ; but it was 
better to obey God than men." Having, in the next 
parliament, been again chosen to represent the county of 
Lincoln, he maintained the cause of the persecuted Protest- 
ants with the same discreet but undeviating resolution. 

While Cecil, by the reserve and moderation of his con- 
duct, escaped the suspicion of the court, he was privately 
turning his views towards those changes in the government 
which, he foresaw, would soon take place. It was every 
day more apparent that the Princess Elizabeth would 
ascend the throne, and that her elevation would not be 
long deferred. No prospect now remained that Mary 
would leave offspring behind her, and the distempers of 
her mind and body seemed rapidly to subdue her consti- 
tution. While a dropsy, which she had at first mistaken 
for pregnancy, and aggravated by improper treatment, 
daily impaired her strength, the bad success of all her 
schemes for the restoration of popery, the general hatred 
excited by her cruelties, the loss of Calais, which was 
attributed to her negligence, the cold return which Philip 
made to her ardent attachment, and the resolution which 
he had formed of settling in Spain and abandoning her for 
ever, all preyed on her mind and hastened her decay. 
Yet though, in this state of things, Cecil had every induce- 
ment to cultivate the favour of Elizabeth, it was only by 
* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 13. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 125 

incurring the most imminent danger that, surrounded as 
she was by the spies of Mary, any communication could 
be held with her. By uniting, however, dexterity and 
circumspection with a cool intrepidity, he found means to 
open and maintain a private correspondence ; and often 
conveyed to her such intelligence, as enabled her to avoid 
the snares of her suspicious and vindictive sister. 

The interval of leisure, which he at present enjoyed, he 
seems to have diligently spent in digesting plans for that 
order of things which he anticipated in the new reign ; 
and so well had he matured his ideas, that he was enabled 
to present Elizabeth, on the very day of her accession, 
with a memorial, pointing out those affairs which required 
instant dispatch. Mindful of the favours which she had 
received in her adversity, and gratified to find a counsellor 
already prepared to give activity to her government, 
Elizabeth hastened to reward and secure his services. 
He was the first person sworn of her privy council, and 
was at the same time created secretary of state. # 

From this time forward, Cecil may be considered as the 
first minister of Elizabeth, and the principal adviser of her 
measures. As he knew that on her life depended both 
his prospects and his safety, since Mary Queen of Scots, 
the next heir, was a Catholic, entirely directed by her 
bigoted relatives of the house of Guise, his attachment 
was sincere, and his exertions zealous. Elizabeth, pos- 
sessed of penetration to perceive, and judgment to appre- 
ciate, his talents, rested with peculiar confidence on his 
fidelity and tried abilities. Her passions, her prejudices, 
her caprice, made her frequently act in opposition to his 
sentiments, but none of her ministers or favourites was 
so generally consulted ; and his cool, deliberate, weighty 
reasonings, often obtained, from her better judgment, con- 
cessions to which her inclinations were extremely averse. 
As it would be tedious to follow the labours of Cecil in an 
administration of forty years, we must now relinquish the 
* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 13. 



126 LORD BURLEIGH. 

narrative form, and attempt an outline of his policy, under 
a few general heads, taking as our text the grand ques- 
tions which engaged the solicitude of the queen and her 
minister, in that age of dissension and danger. This will 
lead us to examine his policy in regard to religion; his 
civil policy, or administration of home affairs ; his foreign 
policy towards the Low Countries, Spain, France, Scotland, 
and Mary Queen of Scots. 

The measures relative to religion were those which most 
incessantly harassed him during his administration, and 
which required the greatest caution and management, 
because his sentiments corresponded ill with the inclina- 
tions of his sovereign. At the commencement of the 
reign of Edward VI., the more gross absurdities of the 
Romish church, which his father had forcibly retained, 
were abolished ; and a more rational worship, both in 
substance and form, established by law. Yet, although 
many further changes were made in the course of this 
reign by Archbishop Cranmer and the other heads of the 
church, the Reformation was still considered incomplete. 
King Edward, in his diary, laments that he was prevented, 
by the opposition of the prejudiced, from restoring the 
primitive discipline according to his heart's desire; and 
in the preface to one of the service-books, published by 
authority, the framers observed, "that they had gone as 
far as they could in reforming the church, considering the 
times they lived in, and hoped that they who came after 
them would, as they might, do more." # The lamented 
death of Edward put a period, for the time, to the hopes 
of further improvement. Mary was no sooner seated on 
the throne, than she restored the faith and forms of the 
Catholic church, acknowledged the supremacy of the 
pope, reconciled her dominions to the see of Rome, and 
began, by the most cruel exertions of her authority, to 
replunge the people into that superstition and ignorance 
from which they had just emerged. It was to the acces- 
* Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, vol. i., p. 73, edit. 1793. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 127 

sion of Elizabeth, who was known to be attached to the 
reformed religion, that the Protestants now looked for- 
ward as the period of their deliverance and triumph ; and 
Cecil, aware that no object could be more important than 
to quiet the minds of men in this concern, had urged it 
upon that princess as the first of her cares. 

But the views of the queen and her minister, with 
regard to the extent of the projected reformation, were 
far from coinciding. Cecil had learnt, from recent events 
both in his own and in foreign countries, how many 
dangers and convulsions might be avoided in religious 
changes, if government wisely took the lead. He had 
also observed the channel towards which the current of 
public opinion was strongly directed. The great majority 
of the nation had seconded Edward and his council in 
their successive measures in favour of the reformed wor- 
ship, and looked forward to further changes, when the 
successor of that prince unfortunately attempted to tear 
up his work from the foundation. But the extravagant 
cruelties of Mary, although they intimidated many into an 
apparent submission, aggravated the general detestation 
of the popish religion. The people, exasperated to behold 
their countrymen groaning under the torture, or expiring 
in the flames, now looked with horror, not only on the 
tenets, but on the rites, the ceremonies, the appendages, of 
a sanguinary church. Many Englishmen who had sought 
refuge in exile, having observed the tranquil and flourish- 
ing condition of states which had entirely renounced both 
the tenets and rites of the Romish church, hastened, on 
the accession of Elizabeth, to apprize their countrymen of 
those happy effects, and incite them to similar changes. 
To this state of public sentiment, Cecil might be desirous 
to accommodate the ecclesiastical establishment of Eng- 
land. The favourite and confidential adviser of Edward, 
he seems to have deeply imbibed the reforming spirit of 
that reign ; and we find him acting as one of the com- 
missioners who prepared a purer code of canon laws, 



128 LORD BURLEIGH. 

which the death of the young monarch prevented from 
receiving the royal sanction. 

But for a thorough reformation, the mind of Elizabeth 
was by no means prepared. The superstitious tenets 
which her father thought proper to retain, had partly 
insinuated themselves into her belief; while her imagina- 
tion had become still more impressed with the mysterious 
ceremonies and splendid array of the Catholic worship. 
She was therefore inclined to draw back from the more 
advanced measures of her brother's reign, and would have 
been content with a very few changes in doctrine and 
form. Yet Cecil had very powerful arguments to induce 
her concurrence with his plans. He could represent that 
the voice of the nation was loudly in favour of the Refor- 
mation ; that the ill success of her sister, and the odium 
which she had incurred, proved the danger of attempting 
to maintain the worship of Rome ; that the Protestants, 
both at home and abroad, looked up to her as their only 
hope, and would prove the firmest supporters of her 
government; that the Catholics, on the other hand, ac- 
knowledged Mary Queen of Scots as the legitimate heiress 
of the throne, and were ready to make the most dan- 
gerous attempts in support of her title ; that the more 
completely the minds of her subjects became alienated 
from the doctrines and rites of the Roman church, the 
more decidedly they would be united against the claims 
of her rival ; and that it was impossible to be reconciled 
to Rome, without giving up that supremacy in religious 
matters, which her father had accounted among his 
proudest titles.^ 

* "When we look into the arguments which Camden and Burnet have, on 
this occasion, put into the mouth of Cecil, we shall perceive that these 
historians have framed his discourse rather from his known principles 
and the circumstances of the times, than from any real documents. Yet 
it must be acknowledged, that the discourses which they attribute to 
him possess a verisimilitude that does not pass the licence usually per- 
mitted to historians. But Mr. Hume, although he expressly refers to 
these writers as his authorities, not only new-models and varies their 



LORD BURLEIGH. 129 

By such considerations Cecil obtained the consent of 
Elizabeth to the restoration of the Protestant worship; 
but the plan which he first laid before the privy council, 
and afterwards before parliament, for the new establish- 
ment, did not, in its provisions, go beyond that which had 
been adopted at the commencement of Edward the Sixth's 
reign.* Yet even to the moderate retrenchments thus 
made in the Catholic worship, the queen was with difficulty 
reconciled ; and she went so far as to declare that she 
would not have passed the act for these changes, had it 
not contained one saving clause, which entitled her " to 
ordain and publish such further ceremonies and rules as 
may be for the advancement of God's glory and edifying 
his church, and the reverence of Christ's holy mysteries 
and sacraments." f 

But although Cecil exerted himself strenuously to pro- 
cure reformation in the church, his cool and temperate 
mind was little moved by religious animosities, and was 
willing to tolerate the Catholics, provided they engaged 
in no dangerous attempts against the state. The maxims 

account, but even makes Cecil speak like a fellow -sceptic of the eigh- 
teenth century. According to him, the minister assures his sovereign 
that she may safely venture on any reformation she chooses, for " the 
nation had of late been so much accustomed to these revolutions, that 
men had lost all idea of truth and falsehood on such subjects." This re- 
presentation, of which no trace is to be found in Camden or Burnet, is 
the more objectionable, that it is inconsistent, not only with verisimili- 
tude, but with fact. That Cecil, so distinguished as a zealous Protestant, 
should have spoken thus lightly of religious tenets, is as incredible as 
that Elizabeth, who, on several occasions, was ready to sacrifice her in- 
terests to her bigotry, should listen to such a discourse : and still more 
absurd is it to suppose that a minister so sagacious, and a princess so 
penetrating, should have so egregiously mistaken the state of men's 
minds, as to believe them wholly indifferent to those very changes to 
which so many had signalized their attachment at the stake, and all the 
bishops affirmed their aversion by a resignation of their benefices. The 
ferment of religious opinions was perhaps never greater than at that very 
period. 

* Bacon's Works, vol. iv., p. 374, edit. 1740. 

f Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, vol. i., p. 130. 



130 LORD BURLEIGH. 

on which Elizabeth and her ministers professed to found 
their conduct in matters of religion were, first, " that con- 
sciences are not to be forced, but to be won and reduced 
by the force of truth, by the aid of time, and the use of 
all good means of instruction and persuasion ; " and, se- 
condly, " that causes of conscience, when they exceed 
their bounds, and prove to be matter of faction, lose their 
nature ; and that sovereign princes ought distinctly to 
punish the practice or contempt, though coloured with 
the pretences of conscience and religion." # The first of 
these maxims corresponded entirely with the moderation 
of Cecil ; and the second, although capable of very differ- 
ent interpretations, according to the mildness or violence 
of the expounders, was, in his hands, a sufficiently safe 
principle. While the Catholics, enraged at the sagacity 
with which he detected, and the vigour with which he 
counteracted, all their enterprises, charged him loudly with 
cruelty towards them, they still were unable to produce 
any instance in which his severity exceeded what the im- 
mediate security of government appeared to demand, f 

The queen still gave strong indications of an attachment 
to the forms of the old religion. Although prevailed on 
to command the more obnoxious monuments of idolatry 
to be removed from the churches, yet the service in her 

* Bacon's Works, vol. iv., p. 360. Also Knollys's letter to Cretoy, in 
Burnet's History of the Reformation. 

f Bacon, vol. iv., pp. 361, 362. In a letter, in which he replies to 
some applications to mitigate his rigours against the Papists, Burleigh 
affirms that these rigours were exaggerated ; that they amounted only to 
very gentle penalties, and were employed solely against the known and 
active enemies of government. "In very truth," says he, " whereof I 
know not to the contrary, there is no Catholic persecuted to the danger 
of life here, but such as profess themselves, by obedience to the pope, to 
be no subjects to the queen. And although their outward pretence be, 
to be sent from the seminaries to convert people to their religion, yet, 
without reconciling of them from their obedience to the queen, they 
never give them absolution. Such in our realm as refuse to come to our 
churches, and yet do not discover their obedience to the queen, be taxed 
with fines, according to the law, without danger of their lives." — Birch's 
Memoirs, vol. L, p. 94. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 131 

own chapel was still attended with such ceremonies and 
splendour, that foreigners could distinguish it from the 
Roman only by its being performed in English. Here 
the choristers appeared in their surplices, and the priests 
in their copes ; the altar, in the midst of which stood a 
massy crucifix of silver, was furnished with rich plate, 
and two gilt candlesticks with lighted candles; the ser- 
vice, on solemn festivals, was sung, not only with the 
sound of organs, but of cornets, sackbuts, and other 
musical instruments ; and, that nothing might be wanting 
to its ancient solemnity, the ceremonies observed by the 
knights of the Garter in their adoration towards the altar, 
which had been abolished by King Edward and revived 
by Queen Mary, were now retained.* As Elizabeth ad- 
vanced in years, these propensities seem gradually to have 
increased; for, though she was obliged to guard against 
the Catholics as her inveterate enemies, though she had 
been excommunicated by the pope, and lived in perpetual 
danger from the plots, insurrections, and invasions of his 
partisans, yet Cecil found considerable difficulty in dis- 
suading her from bringing the state of the church nearer 
the old religion. It was only by a firm and spirited in- 
terposition that he could prevent her from absolutely pro- 
hibiting the marriage of the clergy ; and she is said to 
have often repented that she had gone so far in her con- 
cessions.f When the dean of St. Paul's, in a sermon 
preached before her, had spoken with some disapprobation 
of the sign of the cross, she called aloud to him from her 
closet, to desist from that ungodly digression, and return 
to his text. On another occasion, when one of her chap- 
lains had preached a sermon in defence of the real pre- 
sence, which he would scarcely have ventured to do had 
not her sentiments been well understood, she openly gave 
him thanks for his pains and piety.J The Protestants, 
strongly united as they were to her by every tie of interest, 

* Neal, vol. i., p. 144. f Ibid, p. 158. 

X Warner's Ecclesiast. Hist. vol. ii., p. 427. 

k2 



132 LORD BURLEIGH. 

could not, without some murmurs and indignation, observe 
her predilection for the rites of their opponents. 

But while Cecil found Elizabeth ready to show the 
Catholics every indulgence which the public safety could 
admit, all his influence and entreaties were insufficient to 
procure a similar lenity for another class of her subjects. 
A considerable portion of the people eagerly desired a 
more thorough reformation than had been accomplished 
under King Edward, and the Protestants soon became 
divided into those who conformed, and those who would 
not conform, to the institutions of Elizabeth. Yet, since 
the non-conformists, or puritans, (for so they were now 
called from affecting a superior purity in worship and 
morals,) differed from the adherents of the church in no 
point of faith, but merely in certain external forms, a few 
concessions on either side might have prevented the dis- 
union. But this was not the age of mutual forbearance, 
and the party of the established church were ill prepared 
for limitations to the interference of government. They 
did not see that, while it was the duty of government to 
provide a competent number of well-qualified religious 
teachers, and to draw up regulations for their direction in 
respect both to the substance and the mode of their in- 
structions, it was equally its duty to go no farther, and to 
beware of turning their proposed benefits into oppression, 
by forcing obnoxious opinions and forms on the public. 
Elizabeth, holding very different sentiments from these, 
not only prescribed peculiar forms for the religious wor- 
ship of her people, but was determined that they should 
use no other. To these the puritans objected, because 
they had been previously employed in the popish worship 
as mystical symbols, and were associated in the minds of 
the people with the grossest superstition. No worldly 
consideration would induce them to assume what they ac- 
counted appendages of idolatry ; while the queen, on her 
part, prepared to employ all her authority in support of 
the prescribed forms. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 133 

Finding that her council, the ablest and wisest council 
that England ever saw, were decidedly averse to measures 
which threatened to involve the nation in dangerous dis- 
sensions, she resolved to effect her purpose by means of 
some of the bishops, particularly Archbishop Parker, who 
readily and zealously entered into her views. # The seve- 
rities to which these men now proceeded were only sur- 
passed by the frivolity of their ostensible cause. A fervent 
attachment to the use of surplices, corner-caps, tippets, 
the cross in baptism, and the ring in marriage, were, in 
their eyes, the distinguishing characteristics of a Christian ; 
and any dislike to these forms was accounted a sufficient 
crime to subject the most learned and pious clergyman to 
imprisonment and exile ; or, as a mitigated punishment, 
to be turned out of his living, and consigned with his fa- 
mily to indigence. The most pernicious effects necessarily 
flowed from these severities : while the church was weak- 
ened by the loss of many able divines, and degraded by 
the introduction of men who could barely read the prayer- 
book and write their own names, the people began every 
where to collect around their expelled teachers, and to 
form conventicles apart from the establishment. Yet 
these mischievous consequences only set the queen and 
her bishops on framing new statutes to reach the refractory; 
and at length even the laity were brought within their 
grasp, by an act which provided that non-attendance at 
public worship in the parish churches should be punished 
with imprisonment, banishment, and, if the exile returned, 
with death. An arbitrary commission was appointed, with 
full powers to bring all religious offenders to punishment ; 
and as any resistance to the injunctions of the queen, as 
supreme head of the church, was at length construed into 
sedition and treason, many subjects of unquestioned 
loyalty were imprisoned, banished, and brought to ruin. 

Nothing could exceed the imperious demeanour which 
some of the prelates, confident of royal support, now as- 
* Neal, vol. i., p. 192. 



134 LORD BURLEIGH. 

sumed. Archbishop Parker, having, from a wish to dis- 
play his authority, commanded one of his suffragans to 
suppress certain meetings which the clergy of the same 
neighbourhood were accustomed to hold for their mutual 
improvement, the privy council, who looked on these 
exercises as extremely beneficial, since they greatly contri- 
buted to diffuse knowledge at a period when the clergy in 
general were ill instructed, countermanded this injunction 
of the primate, and ordered that these meetings should 
receive every encouragement. The prelate, however, having 
represented to the queen the danger to which her supre- 
macy would be exposed, if he, her vicegerent, should thus 
be counteracted, readily procured her direct interference 
in support of his authority ; and the council had the mor- 
tification to find the exercises, as they were called, sup- 
pressed not only in one diocese, but throughout the king- 
dom. # At one time, we find the whole council soliciting 
the haughty primate in vain in behalf of clergymen 
distinguished for learning and piety, whom he had, on 
some frivolous pretext, expelled from their benefices ;f at 
another, we find them, with as little effect, threatening 
him with the penalties of the law, which he had greatly 
exceeded in his severities. J At last, Archbishop Parker 
rendered himself so obnoxious, that the queen found it 
prudent to allay the popular clamour by stopping short his 
career : but this produced very little alteration in the mind 
of Elizabeth ; for when his successor, the moderate Grin- 
dal, refused to enforce some of her injunctions, she did not 
hesitate, by an extraordinary exertion of her supremacy, 
to suspend him from his functions, and meditated even to 
deprive him altogether. Whitgift, the succeeding primate, 
taught by this example, proceeded to severities which 
Parker would not have ventured to exercise, nor the queen, 
in the earlier part of her reign, have countenanced. 

The efforts of Cecil, in an individual capacity, were 

* Life of Parker, p. 461. f Neal, vol. i., p. 373. 

X Letter of the Lords of Council, ibid, p. 383. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 135 

equally unavailing in these days of intolerance. At first, 
his high office and known influence with the queen over- 
awed the more violent prelates, and he was enabled to 
deliver several persons from their resentment. But when 
it became known that the prejudices of her majesty were 
too powerful to be counteracted by the united voice of her 
council, his remonstrances, his threats, his entreaties, in 
favour of the oppressed non-conformists, were treated with 
equal neglect. The university of Cambridge, of which he 
was chancellor, had, much to their honour, made a bold 
and manly stand in support of freedom of opinion, and he 
had succeeded in maintaining their privileges against the 
attempts of several of the bishops ; * but when that learned 
body ventured to declare openly against corner-caps and 
surplices, the indignation of these prelates and the queen 
became so implacable, that he was obliged to abandon 
them to the rigorous injunctions of their adversaries, f 
Even after he had attained the highest office in the state, 
his solicitations in behalf of persecuted individuals, in 
whom he was interested, were without effect ; J and his 
own domestic chaplain, supported by the benchers of the 
Temple, whose lecturer he also was, could not escape the 
rigour of the government party. § 

Cecil, as well as the other ministers, were sometimes 
put on the ungrateful task of acting as the organs of the 
queen's mandates against the non-conformists. Perhaps 
it might have been more manly to have refused this sub- 
mission, and have renounced his office rather than his inde- 
pendence ; but he knew that, out of office, he could yield 
no protection whatever to the cause which he favoured : it 
was his policy to temporize rather than violently resist ; and 
to procure, by temperate and persevering remonstrances, 
such partial changes in the measures which he disapproved, 
as would not have been granted to an avowed and resolute 

* Letter of the Lords of Council, Neal, vol. i., p. 195. 

t Ibid, p. 196. + Ibid, pp. 252, 306, 319, 381, &c. 

§ Ibid, p. 390. 



136 LORD BURLEIGH. 

opposition. Yet, at times, the impolitic severities of the 
prelates induced him to assume a tone of censure and au- 
thority, in which he never indulged unless his indignation 
was greatly roused. Archbishop Whitgift having drawn 
up a long list of captious articles, which the clergy were 
either to answer to his satisfaction, or to be suspended, 
and having proceeded, by means of it, to harass those 
who were obnoxious to him, Cecil attempted to stop his 
proceedings by the following letter : — 

" It may please your Grace, 
" I am sorry to trouble you so oft as I do, but I am 
more troubled myself, not only with many private petitions 
of sundry ministers, recommended for persons of credit^ 
and peaceable in their ministry, who are greatly troubled 
by your grace and your colleagues in commission ; but I 
am also daily charged by counsellors and public persons 
with neglect of my duty, in not staying your grace's 
vehement proceedings against ministers, whereby Papists 
are greatly encouraged, and the queen's safety endangered. 
I have read over your twenty-four articles, found in a 
Romish style, of great length and curiosity, to examine all 
manner of ministers in this time, without distinction of 
persons, to be executed ex officio mero. And I find them 
so curiously penned, so full of branches and circumstances, 
that I think the inquisition of Spain used not so many 
questions to comprehend and to trap their priests. I know 
your canonists can defend these with all their particles ; 
but surely, under correction, this judicial and canonical 
sifting poor ministers is not to edify or reform. And, in 
charity, I think they ought not to answer all these nice 
points, except they were notorious Papists or heretics. I 
write with the testimony of a good conscience. I desire 
the peace and unity of the church. I favour no sensual 
and wilful recusant; but I conclude, according to my 
simple judgment, this kind of proceeding is too much 
favouring of the Romish inquisition, and is a decree rather 



LORD BURLEIGH. 137 

to seek for offenders than to reform any. It is not charitable 
to send poor ministers to your common register, to answer 
upon so many articles at one instant, without a copy of 
the articles or their answers. I pray your grace bear with 
this one (perchance) fault, that I have willed the ministers 
not to answer these articles, except their consciences may 
suffer them." 

To this spirited letter the archbishop returned an elabo- 
rate reply, in which he defended his proceedings ; and Cecil, 
perceiving that it was in vain to remonstrate, only replied 
" That, after reading his grace's long answer, he was not 
satisfied in the point of seeking, by examination, to have 
ministers accuse themselves, and then punish them for 
their own confessions ; that he would not call his proceed- 
ings captious, but they were scarcely charitable." Whit- 
gift rejoined, by sending him other papers in his own 
justification, and endeavoured to convince him, that if 
archbishops and bishops should be driven to use proofs by 
witnesses only, the execution of the law would be partial, 
their charges in procuring and producing witnesses intole- 
rable, and their proceedings altogether too slow and cir- 
cumscribed for extinguishing the sectaries. # 

Cecil was by no means satisfied with these reasonings 
of the prelate, and therefore united with the rest of the 
council in sending him a still stronger remonstrance, in 
which they complained that the most diligent, learned, 
and zealous pastors were deprived of their livings, for a 
few points respecting unimportant ceremonies ; while the 
most ignorant and notoriously profligate characters were 
allowed to retain their cures unmolested, provided they 
submitted their consciences without reserve to their supe- 
riors. That the primate might not plead ignorance of the 
alleged abuses, the council sent with this letter a list of 
names in three columns : one of learned and worthy mi- 
nisters deprived ; a second of ignorant and vicious persons 
* Strype's Life of Whitgift, p. 1G0. 



138 LOUD BURLEIGH. 

continued ; and a third of pluralists and non-residents. 
But these remonstrances, as they were not enforced by the 
arm of power, served only to exasperate the archbishop ; 
and the same violent measures continued to be pursued 
with unremitting activity. 

The ministers of Elizabeth, besides their unwillingness 
to occasion internal dissensions, seem to have feared that 
the exorbitant power entrusted to the superior clergy for 
enforcing their forms, might give the Protestants the undue 
ascendancy possessed by the church of Rome. Sir Francis 
Knollys, one of the ministers, in a letter to his colleague 
Cecil, calls some of Whitgift's ordinances articles of inqui- 
sition, highly prejudicial to the royal prerogative.* And, 
indeed, there appeared reasonable grounds for alarm, since 
some of the clergy began, after the example of the church 
of Rome, to give hints of a divine right, which, by a won- 
derful concatenation, had been transmitted to them from 
the very days of the apostles, f On the other hand, it 
was easy to foresee that the puritans, pushed to extremities, 
would begin to question that power from which their hard- 
ships proceeded ; and, becoming more exasperated against 
the church, would begin to associate, with their earnest 
desire for ecclesiastical reformation, an expectation of 
changes in the government which supported it. But the 
peculiar circumstances of the times prevented these dis- 
positions, however evident, from leading, during Elizabeth's 
reign, to any dangerous consequences. The puritans, as 
well as all other Protestants, fondly looked on her as their 
refuge against the intolerable cruelty of the Catholics ; 
and, even when they felt themselves to be the objects of 
her aversion, they, as well as their brethren in Scotland, 

* Neal, vol. i., p. 444. 

f These ideas where now promulgated by Bancroft ; but Cranmer had 
so fully considered himself as an officer acting by the king's authority, 
and was so well convinced that his episcopal power ended, like that of 
the other officers, with the life of the monarch, who conferred it, that, 
on the death of Henry VIII., he refused to exercise any jurisdiction, 
until he received a new commission from King Edward. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 139 

entered into associations for the defence of her person 
and government. 

In civil transactions, the moderate and cautious maxims 
of Cecil had a far more conspicuous ascendant. Consider- 
ing as the happiest condition of a nation a state of un- 
broken peace, in which the people might proceed in the 
improvement of their circumstances by contented industry, 
he was the strenuous advocate of every moderate and con- 
ciliatory measure. Meriting, above almost all statesmen, 
the character of a safe politician, his principles of govern- 
ment were salutary at all times, but peculiarly fortunate in 
the dangerous and delicate period when he lived. 

From the commencement of his administration under 
Elizabeth, he proceeded, as he had done during the short 
reign of Edward, in a gradual amelioration of the internal 
state of the country. One of his first measures was to 
reinstate the coin of the realm, which had been so much 
debased during the preceding reigns, as to prove extremely 
prejudicial to trade both at home and abroad. While the 
shilling, which in the first years of Henry VIII. contained 
one hundred and eighteen grains of fine silver, was in the 
latter part of his reign reduced to forty, and in the reign 
of Edward to twenty, the money price of every thing was, 
by this means, both exorbitantly increased, and rendered 
extremely uncertain.* In transactions with foreign mer- 
chants, and even among the natives themselves, the dif- 
ference between the real and nominal value of the coin was 
a source of endless disputes ; and the popular discontents 
which ensued were both loud and general. Some attempts 
had been made to remedy the evil ; but proving abortive, 
from the scarcity of bullion, and the want of perseverance 
on the part of government, the prospect of amendment 
was now deemed almost hopeless. Cecil, however, was 
strongly impressed with the great advantages which would 
result from a restoration of the coin ; and having been con- 
vinced, from a mature consideration which he had given to 

* Lowndes' Extract from the Mint, in Locke's Essay on Coin, p. 69. 



140 LORD BURLEIGH. 

the subject, even in the reign of Edward, that the pre- 
ceding failures were the result of mismanagement, he 
prevailed on Elizabeth to commence the undertaking with- 
out delay, and gradually, but resolutely, to proceed as her 
means would allow. To render the people more eager to 
bring the base money into the mint, its current value was 
reduced by proclamation ; and new gold and silver coin, 
of the standard weight and value, being issued in exchange, 
the money of England, from an excessive debasement, soon 
became the heaviest and finest in Europe. 

But the measures which the state of public affairs obliged 
him to pursue were not always so evidently beneficial, or 
so generally acceptable. Aware, however, that the nation, 
if convinced that the plans of government were for their 
advantage, would concur in them far more certainly than 
from a dread of authority, he was anxious to secure the 
public opinion, and procure obedience rather by persua- 
sion than command. He advised Elizabeth, as the first 
act of her reign, to summon a parliament. Here he intro- 
duced his propositions for religious reformation, and called 
on the Catholics to reply freely to the arguments which he 
advanced. In the succeeding period of the reign, how- 
ever, the bold doctrines of the puritans, and the queen's 
exceeding aversion to any discussion which might touch 
her prerogative, prevented him from employing this chan- 
nel for the defence of his measures ; yet he seems occa- 
sionally to have adopted the practice of bringing political 
transactions before parliament. There is still preserved a 
very clear exposition of the designs of Philip II. of Spain, 
which he delivered on one occasion in the house of lords, 
and the heads of which he afterwards transmitted to the 
speaker for the information of the commons. # 

In the press he found a more constant and effectual 
method of influencing public opinion. As he never under- 
took any political measure without due deliberation, he 
concluded that the same reasons, which weighed with 

* Strype's Annals, vol. iv., p. 107. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 141 

him, would weigh with the nation at large. Though in- 
volved in a vast maze of public business, he did not fail to 
bestow a portion of his time in justifying to the world both 
the measures of his government, and his own private con- 
duct. Among the salutary effects of his political writings, 
it is mentioned that they contributed much to retain the 
people in their allegiance, during the dangerous insurrec- 
tions which succeeded Norfolk's first conspiracy. There 
are still extant several of his pieces on that occasion, in 
which he paints the folly and danger of the rebels, the 
profligate characters of their ringleaders, and the miseries 
which must inevitably overtake them in the event of 
defeat. # To the many defamatory libels which the Jesuits 
published, during his administration, against Elizabeth 
and her ministers, it was his constant practice to publish 
replies. He knew too well the impression made by uncon- 
tradicted calumnies to let them pass unexposed. Silent 
contempt, he perceived, might be represented as proceed- 
ing from conscious guilt ; and to suppress the propagation 
of slanders by force, would seem to betray both an inabi- 
lity to refute them, and a dread of their effects. He knew 
that better arguments could always be found in support of 
truth than of falsehood, and that it was the fault of the 
reasoner if the cause of right did not appear to the greatest 
advantage. The great facility of composition, which he 
had acquired in the earlier period of his life, proved of 
infinite importance to him in these voluminous apologies, f 

To diffuse information among the people, and render 
them capable of comprehending sound reasoning on public 
business, was a favourite object with Cecil. In contradic- 
tion to the absurd idea that ignorance is the parent of good 
order, that men will prove the best subjects when they 
bestow no thought on their social relations, it was the 
maxim of this sagacious statesman, " that where the peo- 

* See Camden, Strype, &c. 

t Many of them are published in Strype, and many still remain in 
manuscript. 



142 LORD BURLEIGH. 

pie were well taught, the king had ever good obedience of 
his subjects."* Considering the church as the grand 
channel for the moral as well as religious instruction of the 
people, he earnestly laboured to fill every ecclesiastical 
office with able, learned, and active teachers. To impress 
these sentiments on his sovereign, as well as his political 
colleagues, he warned them that " where there wanted a 
good ministry, there were ever bad people ; for they that 
knew not how to serve God, would never obey the king."-f- 
Fortunate had it been for the fame of Cecil, if his 
accommodating policy, his desire to gratify the queen, 
without incensing the people, could always have been 
carried into effect by means equally praiseworthy. But 
Elizabeth's passion for uncontrouled power sometimes led 
him into measures, or at least into schemes, which would 
seem to indicate that his regard to public opinion arose 
rather from the love of tranquillity, than from concern for 
the liberties of the nation. Of this description were some 
plans which he proposed for augmenting the royal revenue, 
without having recourse to parliament. To this last re- 
source Elizabeth had a peculiar aversion ; and, rather than 
endure the disquisitions and remonstrances from which the 
commons could now with much difficulty be restrained, 
she was willing to relieve her pressing exigencies by alien- 
ating the crown lands, and entailing irremediable embar- 
rassment on her successors. Cecil seems to have been 
desirous to avert these ruinous alienations, and yet anxious 
to gratify the queen by procuring supplies independent of 
the parliament. One scheme for this purpose, which he 
proposed in a speech to Elizabeth and her council, was to 
erect a court for the correction of all abuses, invested with 
a general inquisitorial authority over the whole kingdom, 
and empowered to punish defaults by fines for the royal 
exchequer. He urges the queen to the adoption of this 
measure by the example of her grandfather Henry VII., 
who by such means greatly augmented his revenue ; and 
* Life of William Lord Burghle) 1 -, p. 55. -f- Ibid. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 143 

recommends that the court, to render its operations more 
effectual, should proceed " as well by the direction and 
ordinary course of the laws, as by the virtue of her ma- 
jesty's supreme regiment and absolute power, from whence 
law proceeded." From this institution he expected a 
greater revenue than Henry VIII. derived from the aboli- 
tion of the abbeys, and all the forfeitures of ecclesiastical 
revenues.* Strange ! that a minister who, on other occa- 
sions, so wisely regarded the popular feeling, should pro- 
pose a scheme which must have revived the odious extor- 
tions of Empson and Dudley. Refined speculations on 
the motives of men are almost always false, or we might 
be induced to suppose that Cecil, on this occasion, was 
desirous to turn the attention of the queen from more prac- 
ticable methods of procuring illegal supplies, by directing 
it to schemes which could never be executed. 

Another financial suggestion of his was entitled to appro- 
bation, if we make due allowance for the abuses and ig- 
norance of the age. Although it was the acknowledged 
prerogative of the commons, that no tax should be levied 
on the people without their consent, yet the kings of 
England had found various means to elude this right. Of 
these, one of the most successful was to levy money un- 
der the name of a benevolence, or voluntary loan, which, 
however, scarcely differed in any thing from a tax. Its 
amount was regulated by the government, and those from 
whom it was demanded were obliged to comply : the 
lenders received no interest while it remained in the hands 
of the public ; and the principal, if ever returned, was 
usually detained till a very distant period.f Yet such was 
the effect of a name, that people acquiesced patiently in 

* Strype, Annal. vol. iv., p. 334. 

f The methods practised in levying these forced voluntary loans are 
developed in a curious paper of instructions from the council of Henry 
VIII. to the commissioners for the county of Derby, inserted in Lodge's 
Illustrations, vol. i., p. 71 • The commissioners are here enjoined to em- 
ploy every art that may work upon the hopes or fears of the person ap- 
plied to ; and if, after all, he obstinately refuses to ^comply, they are 



144 LORD BURLEIGH. 

this abuse ; and the same commons, who would have taken 
fire at an attempt to levy a subsidy by the monarch's sole 
authority, were brought to countenance his no less oppres- 
sive borrowing. As the benevolences were imposed at the 
discretion of the officers of government, who had also a 
power to accept what they chose to account a reasonable 
excuse, they were levied in the most partial and injurious 
manner. Some individuals were reduced to ruin by these 
exactions, while others, of equal property, were allowed 
to escape them altogether. Cecil, to render this practice 
less unfair in itself, and less severe on individuals, 
hazarded a proposition to raise a general loan on the peo- 
ple, equivalent in amount to a subsidy, and imposed 
according to the same proportions.* 

It was with a more successful issue, and much happier 
example, that he strenuously recommended a rigid fru- 
gality as the only effectual means of carrying on the 
government, without compromising its authority, or engen- 
dering public discontents. Elizabeth had the prudence to 
coincide with these economical views ; and she has hence 
deservedly acquired the reputation of husbanding her 
resources with the utmost skill, and making very few 
demands on the property of her people. Although sur- 
rounded by powerful enemies, engaged in frequent wars, 
obliged to disburse large sums for the support of her 
friends abroad, and the suppression of dangerous enter- 
prises at home, she conducted her government at less 
expense, in proportion to her undertakings, than any sove- 
reign in our history. The large debts contracted by her 
father and sister, with which she found the crown en- 
cumbered at her accession, amounted, it is said, to four 

then ordered to swear him to secrecy in regard to what has passed, that 
his example may not influence others. But occasionally, much more 
severe measures were resorted to against the refractory ; and from a do- 
cument in the same collection, (vol. i., p. 82,) we find Richard Reed, an 
alderman of London, who refused to contribute, forcibly carried off, by 
the king's order, to serve as a common soldier ! 
* Haynes, p. 511). 



LORD BURLEIGH. 145 

millions, an enormous sum in that age : # yet these she 
quickly discharged, and, at her death, could rank her most 
potent allies among her debtors. The States of Holland 
owed her eight hundred thousand pounds, and the King of 
France four hundred and fifty thousand. f 

From this strict economy, of which Cecil never lost 
sight, there resulted the most important advantages. As 
the people were not harassed with exactions, the govern- 
ment of Elizabeth was extremely popular, at a period 
when the dangerous machinations of her enemies, both at 
home and abroad, rendered popularity indispensable to 
her safety. Without illegal extortions, or contests with 
her parliament, she was enabled to maintain her indepen- 
dence, and to avoid concessions to which her haughty spirit 
could not submit. She was even able occasionally to 
acquire the praise of disinterestedness and generosity, by 
refusing the grants of money which were offered to her by 
the legislature without solicitation. By this management 
she so completely acquired the confidence of her subjects, 
that the commons, though in these days extremely tena- 
cious of their money, voted her, without reluctance, and 
without annexing any conditions, much larger sums than 
had been granted to her predecessors. They knew that 
their treasures were never misapplied; that nothing was 
expended which could possibly be saved ; and the unavoid- 
able exigencies of the state were always acknowledged 
by the nation before the government had recourse to par- 
liament for supplies. When we consider the temper and 
conduct of Elizabeth, we cannot but attribute the tran- 
quillity of her reign, in a great measure, to this rigid fru- 
gality. Scarcely less haughty and impatient of contradic- 
tion than her father, her pretensions to absolute authority 
were at times even more lofty, and her usual language 
to her parliaments still less gracious. As the commons, 
however compliant in other respects, were ever ready to 
encounter danger rather than surrender the public money 
* D'Ewes, p. 473. f Winwood, vol. i., pp. 29, 54. 

L 



146 LORD BURLEIGH. 

without evident utility, or a valuable consideration, it can 
scarcely be doubted, that if she had been led into embar- 
rassments by prodigality, their resolute demands for con- 
cessions on the one hand, and her obstinate refusal to 
abridge her power on the other, would have terminated 
in civil convulsions. 

In the intercourse of England with foreign nations, this 
economy in the management of public money was replete 
with equal advantage. The allies, whom it was most essen- 
tial for Elizabeth to support, were often reduced to such 
straits for money, that the dispersion of their forces, and 
the utter ruin of their hopes, seemed inevitable. In these 
critical emergencies, she found means, either from her 
exchequer or her credit, to afford them a supply; and its 
seasonableness gave it an efficacy beyond its magnitude. 
But though she relieved them opportunely, she wasted 
none of her resources without the most evident necessity. 
Her policy was never to afford them any supplies of men 
and money, until she found that they could not otherwise 
defend themselves ; to send them at length succours just 
sufficient to retrieve their circumstances ; and to withdraw 
her forces as soon as the most imminent danger was repelled. 
She was liberal only when her allies were much depressed, 
and it was necessary to revive their drooping spirits; at 
other times, she required that the money which she ad- 
vanced should be repaid, and even that the expenses of 
her armaments should be reimbursed. Most of her pecu- 
niary assistance to Henry IV. of France was given in the 
form of loans; and the Dutch were obliged to put into her 
hands several fortified towns as security for the repayment 
of her advances. She thus enabled her allies to retrieve 
their affairs, and provided that the expenditure, of which 
they were to reap the chief benefit, should not become a 
burden to her subjects. 

The frugality of Elizabeth did not escape censure ; and 
Cecil, by whose counsels it was known to be enforced, was 
often reproached with sacrificing the best allies of England 



LORD BURLEIGH. 147 

to his little-minded and parsimonious policy. But events 
fully justified his sagacity. While our allies were raised 
to the most vigorous exertion, and finally triumphed over 
their enemies, England herself, the main-spring of these 
efforts, advanced in a progressive course of prosperity. 

But it was the very sparing hand with which he distri- 
buted the public money at home, that excited against him 
the loudest clamours. In those days, it was customary 
for men of rank to waste their property in attendance at 
court, and in an idle emulation of splendour, while they 
looked to the bounty of the sovereign for repairing their 
ruined fortunes. To the importunities of this train, who 
perpetually beset the court, and yet could urge no other 
claim than their own profusion, Cecil was inexorable. 
They complained that he not only refused to exert his 
interest in their behalf, but even hardened the queen 
against their solicitations.* Elizabeth, indeed, had no 
inclination to be prodigal of her treasures, unless when her 
individual predilections occasionally overcame her general 
parsimony. Her partial regard to the Earl of Essex seems 
particularly to have moved her liberality ; for we find, 
that, on his departure for the government of Ireland, she 
made him a present of thirty thousand pounds ; f and 
Cecil, who watched these instances of profusion with a 
jealous eye, computed that, from first to last, her pecuniary 
gifts to the earl amounted to three hundred thousand 
pounds : t — a lavish bounty, while the annual ordinary re- 
venues of the state did not exceed five hundred thousand. 

Elizabeth, anxious to avoid dependence on her par- 
liament, was too often persuaded to reward her cour- 
tiers with grants prejudicial to the national prosperity. 
Sometimes she yielded them exemptions from the penal- 
ties of the laws, sometimes she indulged them in the 

* " Madam," he was accustomed to say, " you do well to let suitors 
stay, for I shall tell you bis dat qui cito dat ; if you grant them speedily, 
they will come again the sooner." — Bacon's Works, vol. iii., p. 2(54. 

+ Birch's Memoirs, vol. ii. X Nanton's Regalia, chap. L 

L 2 



148 LORD BURLEIGH. 

suppression of prosecutions ; and still more frequently, 
she enriched them by monopolies of articles in general 
use. Against these abuses, which he justly termed the 
cankers of the commonwealth,* Cecil continually remon- 
strated, but too often in vain. Towards the latter end of 
the reign, however, the evil became so enormous as to 
compel a remedy ; for the commons, perceiving the com- 
merce of the nation hastening to ruin under the pressure 
of monopolies, became so vehement in their complaints, 
that Elizabeth felt the necessity of abolishing the most 
obnoxious. 

But while Cecil was the avowed enemy of all grants to 
idle suitors, he anxiously desired that those who performed 
real services should enjoy a liberal provision. It was by 
his salutary regulations that the common soldiers were 
first clothed at the expense of government, and received 
their weekly allowance directly into their own hands.f 
According to the previous practice, the whole pay of 
the corps was consigned into the hands of the superior 
officers, who were so little restricted, either as to the time 
or the amount of their distributions, that the unfortunate 
soldiers were sometimes absolutely left to starve. The 
reformation of these abuses occasioned many murmurs 
among those whom it deprived of their unj ust gains ; but 
it infused new loyalty and vigour into the English army, 
at a period when foreign invasion, assisted by many in- 
ternal enemies, threatened to involve the country in ruin. 
From a general adherence to this system, of being liberal 
to the servants of the public, and very parsimonious to the 
dependents of the court, it became a common saying, 
that " the queen paid liberally, though she rewarded 
sparingly." 

Cecil was raised to the office of lord high treasurer in 

the eleventh year of his administration. In this high 

station, while he punished with severity all oppression in 

the collection of the revenue, he gave strict orders that no 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 52. f Ibid, p. 47. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 149 

one should be allowed to escape from his just proportion 
of the public taxes. All undue lenity of this sort to one 
individual, he considered a direct injustice to another; 
since the deficiency must have been made up by new 
exactions on the more honourable contributors. From 
this strict impartiality, and from his improved arrange- 
ments, the receipts of the treasury, from the same sources, 
experienced a great amelioration. The abuse which then 
prevailed, of ministers retaining in their hands and receiv- 
ing interest on considerable sums of the public money, he 
endeavoured to check, by never issuing the smallest pay- 
ment without an express warrant from the queen. Of the 
purity which he required in others, he himself set an 
example, for he never imitated the usual practice of other 
treasurers, in occasionally borrowing from the exchequer 
for private purposes ; and he was almost the only one of 
Elizabeth's ministers who, at his death, owed nothing to 
the public. This strict attention to the interests of the 
exchequer is the more commendable, as it proceeded from 
a desire to diminish the burdens of the people. So averse 
was he to all new impositions on the subjects, that he 
would never allow the tenants of the crown-lands to be 
harassed by a rise of rents, or turned out to make room 
for higher bidders ; and it was his excellent saying, " that 
he never cared to see the treasury swell like a disordered 
spleen, when the other parts of the constitution were in a 
consumption." * 

From the same considerations with his love of economy 
arose his steady attachment to pacific measures. In- 
structed both by history and by observation, that war was 
the great means of wasting the resources of nations, he 
firmly resisted the efforts of those rash and ambitious 
spirits, who perpetually endeavoured to plunge the nation 
into hostilities, with the view of advancing their own 
reputation and fortunes. He had ever on his lips the 
salutary maxims, " that war is soon kindled, but peace 
* Camden, Annal. Eliz. Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 53. 



150 LORD BURLEIGH. 

very hardly procured ; that war is the curse, and peace 
the blessing of God upon a nation; and that a realm 
gains more by one year's peace than by ten years' war."* 
By these pacific counsels, the queen, from the soundness 
of her understanding, and her aversion to expense, was 
usually swayed. On a few occasions, a longing for 
military glory, or a leaning to some favourite counsellors, 
who were men of more ambition than discretion, caused 
her to disregard the dissuasions of Cecil ; but more serious 
reflection seldom failed to dispel her illusion. 

The wisdom of Cecil, in adhering resolutely to a pacific 
system, deserves the more applause, as the condition of 
Europe at that period was calculated to tempt an Eng- 
lish minister into extensive wars. While Scotland and 
France were torn by intestine convulsions, and the rebels 
often enabled to overpower the sovereign, the Low Coun- 
tries, which had revolted against Philip, seemed deter- 
mined to endure the last extremities rather than again 
submit to his dominion. England alone enjoyed internal 
tranquillity ; and, by uniting with the insurgents of either 
country, might have acquired both a large addition of 
territory, and such other concessions as may be wrested 
from a weaker power. But Cecil well knew that con- 
quests were not the true road to national aggrandizement ; 
and that his country would suffer more in her resources 
and real strength from an extensive and protracted war, 
than she could gain from its most successful results. 

Yet, though the strenuous advocate of a pacific policy, 
his forbearance did not arise from timidity, nor his par- 
simony from a contracted mind. Against the dangers 
which threatened the kingdom, he prepared with firmness 
and activity ; and when the public interests required it, he 
could advise a large expenditure and extensive armaments. 
When the prospect of the Spanish invasion filled the 
nation with just alarm, he drew up plans of defence ; and, 
by his serene and collected demeanour, seconded his 
* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 70. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 151 

courageous mistress in diffusing general confidence and 
intrepidity.* His conduct with respect to the allies and 
enemies of his country forms so important a part of his 
transactions, and exhibits a system of foreign policy so 
much more extensive and refined than had hitherto been 
acted upon in England, as to demand a more particular 
examination. 

From the early part of the sixteenth century, the 
political transactions of Europe had gradually been as- 
suming a more systematic form ; and a sort of balance 
of power was at length established among the principal 
nations. Henry VIII. boasted of holding this balance: 
but he held it with so unsteady a hand, and his measures 
were so much the result of momentary passion, that his 
influence in foreign transactions was far from adequate to 
his comparative power. During the reign of Edward VI., 
England was prevented, by her internal factions, from 
giving much attention to external affairs; and, by the 
marriage of Mary with Philip, was sunk for a time into 
little else than a province of the overgrown Spanish 
monarchy. But under Elizabeth, various circumstances 
occurred to alter the aspect of affairs ; and England, from 
the wisdom with which her government availed itself of 
her advantages, obtained an extraordinary ascendancy in 
the public transactions of Europe. 

Of these circumstances, the most important arose from 
the general change which, at this period, was taking place 
in religious sentiments. The commencement of the Re- 
formation has been noticed in the life of Sir Thomas More, 
and since that time the new principles had spread through 
almost every country of Europe. The Roman hierarchy 
attempted to extinguish them by the aid of secular autho- 
rity; but the reformers, after suffering incredible oppres- 
sions, began to defend their freedom of opinion by force 
of arms. Elizabeth, the greatest sovereign of Europe 
who had embraced the new faith, was, from her situation, 
* Camden, Annal. Eliz. p. 502. 



152 LORD BURLEIGH. 

placed at the head of the Protestant cause. Exposed 
thus to the inveterate resentment of the Catholics, her 
protection was relied on by the reformed with the more 
confidence, as they knew the adherents of the pope to be 
no less her enemies than their own. The foreign policy 
of Cecil was adapted to this state of things. He knew 
that the English Catholics, who still formed a powerful 
body in the nation, were secretly encouraged, and urged 
to dangerous insurrections, by the foreign princes of their 
persuasion. He also knew that these princes were eager 
to seize an opportunity of uniting their forces to wrest the 
sceptre from Elizabeth ; and that they had already begun 
to form extensive leagues for that purpose. The most 
effectual means to avert these dangers was, he concluded, 
to support the Protestants in their opposition to their 
Catholic sovereigns, who would thus be sufficiently occu- 
pied at home, and have neither the leisure nor the power 
to turn their arms against England. 

We are first to consider the application of this plan of 
policy to the Spanish empire. Philip, at that time the most 
wealthy and powerful monarch of Europe, was actuated 
both by inordinate ambition, and by a gloomy and unre- 
lenting bigotry. By standing forth as the champion of 
Rome, and labouring to exterminate the Protestants by fire 
and sword, he expected to acquire such a body of adherents 
in every country of Europe, as might pave his way to 
universal dominion. To a prince with such views, Eliza- 
beth, who stood at the head of the Protestant interest, was 
necessarily the most marked object of enmity: yet there 
were circumstances which induced him, in the first period 
of her reign, to postpone his hostile schemes, and even to 
appear as her supporter. At first, he entertained hopes, 
by gaining her hand, to effect the darling plan which his 
union with her sister had failed to realize, — of attaching 
England to the Spanish monarchy. Even after this hope 
was gone, the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots with 
Francis the Second, which threatened, if Elizabeth should 



LORD BURLEIGH. 153 

be overwhelmed by her enemies, to reduce England as 
well as Scotland under the dominion of France, render- 
ed him desirous to support her against their attempts. 
But when freed from these apprehensions by the death of 
Francis, he began to put in practice the enterprises sug- 
gested by his schemes of aggrandizement. He still wore 
the mask of friendship ; but he was from that time forward 
wholly occupied with the extirpation of heresy, and with 
projects to deprive its great protectress of her throne 
and her life. 

Cecil was, from the first, aware of the real disposition 
and views of Philip. He perceived that if, by any con- 
tingency, the circumstances which rendered a show of 
friendship towards Elizabeth subservient to that prince's 
interest should be removed, she would have every thing 
to dread from his ambition and bigotry. Yet, even after 
the course of events had rendered this dissimulation unne- 
cessary, and the King of Spain had begun to throw off 
the mask, the prudent minister of England still advised his 
mistress to temporize, and, as long as possible, to avoid 
open hostilities : when her power should be more firmly es- 
tablished, her finances improved and her forces augmented, 
then, he showed her, would be the proper period to under- 
take the contest : in the mean time, it was her policy to 
dissemble her resentment at the faithlessness of Philip, to 
meet his advances as if she believed them sincere, and to 
send an embassy into Spain to settle, by negotiation, any 
occasional quarrels that might arise. # 

These cautious suggestions of Cecil, which the queen 
had the wisdom to follow, were loudly declaimed against 
by his political rivals, as resulting from a weak and timid 
disposition, calculated to compromise the glory of his 
country, and to degrade its government in the eyes of 
foreigners. The aids in men, money, and ammunition, 
which, at the same period, he counselled to be sent to the 
French Protestants, excited reproaches no less importunate, 
* Camden, p. 70. 



154 LORD BURLEIGH. 

but of an opposite nature; for he, who had just been 
branded as weak and timid, was now accused of rashness 
and a disregard to the public safety. Such is the justice 
of faction ! 

In pursuance of his ambitious projects, Philip had re- 
solved to deprive his subjects in the Low Countries of 
their ancient privileges, to bring them completely under 
the yoke of despotism, and at the same time to extirpate 
that heresy which, in conjunction with the principles of 
civil liberty, had already begun to flourish among them. 
For this purpose he sent thither a body of veteran Spa- 
niards, commanded by the Duke of Alva, an experienced 
officer but a gloomy bigot, in whose bosom long habits 
of tyranny seemed to have extinguished every feeling of 
humanity. His arrival in the Netherlands was marked by 
the most wanton barbarities. Confiscation, imprisonment, 
and exile were accounted mild punishments; few, who 
had once the misfortune to become objects of suspicion, 
escaped torture or death ; and the victims, whom malice 
pointed out to the jealous instruments of the tyrant, were 
often, without any form of accusation or trial, committed 
to the flames. Such was the barbarity of this man, that, 
besides the slaughters perpetrated by his soldiers, he boast- 
ed, with a savage joy, on leaving the Netherlands, that, 
during his government there, he had delivered eighteen 
thousand of these obstinate heretics into the hands of the 
executioner. # 

The unfortunate Flemings, quitting their native country 
in crowds, fled to England, the only state in Europe where 
they could depend on effectual protection ; and Elizabeth, 
cordially receiving them, was enabled, with their assistance? 
to enrich her dominions by several valuable manufactures, 
which had hitherto been chiefly confined to the Nether- 
lands. Nor was it long till an opportunity occurred of 
rendering an indirect assistance to their miserable country. 
Philip, having contracted with some Genoese merchants to 
* Grotius, lib. ii. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 155 

transport into Flanders a sum of four hundred thousand 
crowns for the use of his troops, who were almost in a state 
of mutiny from the want of pay ; the vessels, on board of 
which this treasure was conveyed, happening to be at- 
tacked in the Channel by some privateers belonging to the 
French Hugonots, took refuge in the ports of Plymouth 
and Southampton. Here it was given out, both by the 
captains of the vessels and the Spanish ambassador, that 
their cargoes were the property of the King of Spain ; but 
Cecil, who had always the best means of procuring intelli- 
gence, found out that the money, in fact, did not belong 
to Philip; that the Genoese merchants had not yet fulfilled 
their contract, and were, in consequence, the proprietors 
of the treasure. On this discovery, he entreated the queen 
not to neglect so favourable an opportunity of striking a 
decisive blow against the Spanish power in Flanders. By 
taking the money as a loan, and by giving security for its 
repayment, he argued that she might satisfy the Genoese ; 
while the measure would effectually wound the interests 
of Spain, without any direct hostility. With this advice 
Elizabeth complied, and the event demonstrated its sa- 
gacity. While the Duke of Alva, thrown into the greatest 
embarrassment by the loss of his expected supplies, was 
obliged, to prevent an immediate mutiny among his troops, 
to make the most severe exactions from the inhabitants • 
the tyrannical manner in which they were levied, stretched 
the patience of the people to the utmost, and prepared 
their minds for the most desperate resistance. # 

This transaction, which produced irreparable evils to the 
Spanish power in the Low Countries, gave rise to some 
temporary hostilities between Spain and England. The 
Duke of Alva seized the persons and goods of the English 
merchants in the Netherlands, and Elizabeth retaliated on 
the merchants of Flanders and Spain. But as Philip had 
not yet matured his shemes for taking effectual vengeance 

* Camden, AnnaL Eliz. Nanton's Fragmenta Regalia. Bentivoglio, 
part i., lib. v. 



156 LORD BURLEIGH. 

on England, and as his antagonist did not consider the 
time arrived for a final rupture with him, these differences 
were settled by negotiation, and the merchants on both 
sides indemnified. Elizabeth even yielded so far to the 
remonstrances of Philip, as to refuse the Flemish refugees 
admittance for the future into her dominions ; but this act 
of complaisance was followed by very unexpected conse- 
quences. These sufferers, finding no place of refuge from 
their enemies, returned, in despair, to their own coasts, 
seized the sea-port of the Brille ; and, being soon j oined by 
crowds of their persecuted countrymen, reared the stand- 
ard of revolt throughout Holland and Zealand. A solemn 
league between these two provinces, never again to sub- 
mit to the tyranny of Spain, now laid the corner-stone of 
Dutch independence. The stand which the talents of 
their general, the Prince of Orange, united with their 
own desperate valour, enabled them to make against this 
mighty monarchy, far exceeded the general expectation. 
It was not till after a long siege and great loss, that the 
Duke of Alva succeeded in taking Haarlem ; and he was 
finally compelled to abandon his attempts on Alkmaer. The 
duke was recalled, but the veteran forces of Spain, sup- 
ported by her great resources, still pressed severely on the 
Hollanders, who seemed about to sink under the unequal 
contest. In this emergency, their eyes were turned to their 
only remaining hope, — an embassy which they had sent 
to Elizabeth, imploring her protection, and offering her in 
return the immediate possession and sovereignty of their 
country. 

A valuable accession of maritime territory, as well as 
an opportunity of immediately enfeebling her capital 
enemy, presented very powerful temptations. But many 
weighty objections naturally occurred to her sagacious 
counsellors. It was apparent that, to accept the proffered 
sovereignty, would involve her in immediate hostilities 
with Philip ; that he would be enabled to throw on her 
the reproach of aggression and injustice; that, as these 



LORD BURLEIGH. 157 

provinces had applied to her merely from the insufficiency 
of their own resources, it was probable that she would have 
to sustain the great burden of the contest ; that, from the 
exhausted state in which, even if ultimately successful, 
they would naturally be left by the war, their revenues 
could not speedily repair the waste of her resources which 
their defence must occasion ; but that, as against the 
immense power of Philip their success was very doubtful 
a present and certain loss would be incurred for distant 
and precarious advantages. Nor were the more remote 
evils less to be apprehended, since the possession of a 
continental territory would necessarily involve England in 
many disputes and wars, from which her insular situation 
seemed designed to exempt her. The influence of these 
considerations on the mind of Elizabeth was greatly in- 
creased by her unwillingness to abet subjects in resistance 
to their monarch. Her ideas of sovereign power were, 
indeed, scarcely less lofty than those of Philip ; and the 
depression of a dangerous enemy seemed too dearly pur- 
chased by an example of successful rebellion. She refused 
the proffered sovereignty, but she endeavoured to soften 
the disappointment to the provinces, by promising to 
mediate between them and Philip. 

Her attempts at conciliation were, as might have been 
foreseen, ineffectual; but the circumstances of the Holland- 
ers soon afterwards experienced an alteration, which jus- 
tified a corresponding change in the policy of England. 
The other provinces of the Netherlands, abused beyond 
endurance by the horrible excesses of the Spanish troops, 
had, with the single exception of Luxembourg, risen in 
arms, and formed a common league to resist foreign ty- 
ranny. The strength of the confederacy was now sufficient 
to give it a fair prospect of success, and the English 
government resolved to assist the provinces without de- 
lay. A sum of money was sent over for the imme- 
diate payment of their troops ; and a treaty of mutual 
defence afterwards concluded with them, on the prudential 



158 LORD BURLEIGH. 

and frugal system which Cecil continually enforced. The 
queen stipulated to assist the Hollanders with five thou- 
sand foot and a thousand horse ; but this reinforcement 
was to be at their charge : to lend them a hundred thousand 
pounds ; but to receive, in return, the bond of several towns 
in the Low Countries for its repayment, within the year. 
It was also agreed that, in the event of her being attacked, 
the provinces should assist her with a force equal to that 
which she now sent for their protection ; that all quarrels 
among themselves should be referred to her arbitration; 
that her general should sit as a member in the council of 
the States, and should be made acquainted with all deli- 
berations concerning peace and war.* By this treaty the 
queen raised the courage of the United Provinces at a 
critical juncture, effectually weakened her capital enemy, 
and avoided any considerable waste of her own resources. 

But the independence of this noble republic was not to 
be accomplished without a new succession of difficulties 
and dangers. By the uncommon talents of the Prince 
of Parma, who now commanded against the States, and 
the assassination of their illustrious leader the Prince of 
Orange, they were again reduced to the most desperate 
condition. Again they sent a solemn embassy to implore 
the assistance of Elizabeth, and again proffered their 
sovereignty as the price of protection. The reasons which 
formerly induced her to decline this offer, still led her to 
the same determination ; but, as the enmity of Philip was 
daily becoming more apparent, and the success of the 
States more essential to her security, it was her evident 
policy to render them more effectual assistance. In a new 
treaty, she agreed to aid them with an army of five thou- 
sand foot and one thousand horse, to be paid by herself 
during the war : but, not forgetting the maxims of pru- 
dence amidst her liberality, she stipulated that the whole 
of her expenses should be repaid after the conclusion of 
hostilities ; that the castle of Rammekens, with Flushing 
* Camden, Annal. Eliz. p. 507. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 159 

and the Brille, should, in the mean time, be placed in her 
hands as security ; that her general, and two others of her 
appointment, should be admitted into the council of the 
States ; and that neither of the contracting parties should 
make a separate peace. The reinforcements stipulated by 
this treaty were speedily sent over under the command 
of the Earl of Leicester. # The appointment of this inca- 
pable and arrogant officer is said to have been the only 
step, in the transactions relative to the Low Countries, 
that was taken in opposition to the counsels of Cecil.f It 
was also the only circumstance that led to unprosperous 
events, and impaired the efficacy of the English succours. 

Although the United Provinces, in their struggle for 
freedom, encountered many disasters, still their persevering 
courage, aided by some favourable incidents, gradually 
began to gain on their enemies. From a habit of suc- 
cessful resistance, they learned to look on the power of 
Spain, and the chances of war, with less apprehension ; 
the active spirit excited among them began to display it- 
self in commercial enterprises, which quickly augmented 
their resources. A powerful diversion was also produced 
in their favour by Henry the Fourth of France, who, after 
having subdued his internal enemies, now began to re- 
taliate the many hostile acts of Philip in the days of his 
adversity. Perceiving this favourable change in the cir- 
cumstances of the States, which rendered them in less 
immediate want of assistance from England, Cecil, always 
averse to waste the blood and treasure of the nation in 
superfluous efforts, began to remind the queen that it was 
now time to diminish her disbursements in behalf of her 
allies. To this suggestion she readily hearkened; and, 
that the limitation of her intended retrenchments might 
appear a favour, she desired her ambassador to demand 
the immediate repayment of all her loans and expenses. 
Against this unexpected requisition, with which they were 
wholly unable to comply, the States, in much consterna- 

* Camden, Annal. Eliz. p. 508. f Leicester's Commonwealth, p. 195. 



160 



LORD BURLEIGH. 



tion, remonstrated; and, after many supplications, pre- 
vailed on the queen to be satisfied with more moderate 
conditions. By a new treaty, they engaged to relieve her 
immediately from the expense of their English auxiliaries ; 
to pay her annually a small part of their debt ; to assist 
her, in case it should be requisite, with a stipulated num- 
ber of ships ; to conclude peace only with her concur- 
rence ; and, in lieu of all her demands against them, to 
pay her, after the conclusion of peace with Spain, an 
annual sum of one hundred thousand pounds for four 
years. Until all these conditions should be fulfilled, the 
cautionary towns were to remain in her hands. On her 
part, it was merely stipulated that she should assist 
them, during the war, with a body of four thousand Eng- 
lish auxiliaries, which, however, were to be paid by 
the States.^ 

Before the termination of his political career, Cecil had 
the satisfaction to conclude another treaty, in which still 
more favourable conditions were procured for England. 
The States agreed to fix the amount of their debt at eight 
hundred thousand pounds ; to pay one half of this sum 
during the war, at the rate of thirty thousand pounds a 
year ; to assist Elizabeth with a fleet equal to her own, if 
a convenient opportunity should occur of attacking Spain 
by sea ; and to send a force of five thousand foot and five 
hundred horse to her defence, if either England, or Jersey, 
or Scilly, or the Isle of Wight, should be invaded by the 
Spaniards. They farther agreed that, so long as England 
should continue the war with Spain, they should pay the 
garrisons of the cautionary towns ; a stipulation by which 
this country was at once freed from an annual charge of a 
hundred and twenty thousand pounds.f 

The first avowed assistance which England rendered to 

the United Provinces was the signal for open hostilities 

with Spain ; and Philip, to gratify at once his revenge and 

ambition, attempted, by means of his famous Armada, to 

* Camden, Annal. Eliz. p. 586. f Rymer's Foedera, vol. xvi., p. 340. 



LORD BURLEIGH, 161 

achieve the entire conquest of England. But as the 
failure of this immense armament, and various successful 
attacks on the fleets and harbours of Spain, gave the 
English a superiority at sea, Philip, finding his losses 
increase as his hopes diminished, showed a disposition to 
make peace on reasonable terms. This favourable op- 
portunity of entering into negotiation, Cecil now strongly 
urged the queen to seize ; for although the war continued 
to be very successful, and very honourable, yet he felt 
the wounds which it inflicted under every appearance of 
advantage. By their captures from the Spaniards, a few 
individuals were enriched; and Elizabeth generally took 
care to have her full share in these successful adventures : 
still the royal treasury was exhausted by the expenses 
of the war, and the reluctant queen frequently forced to 
replenish it by applying to parliament. 

The war, however, was continued, because it offered 
temptations which neither the queen nor the people were 
able to resist. The scarcity of the precious metals ren- 
dered their value in these days extravagant ; and the rich 
freights transported from the New World to Spain pre- 
sented the most powerful excitement to avarice. Stimu- 
lated by these, Sir Francis Drake had, even before the 
commencement of open hostilities with Spain, begun his 
depredations on her commerce ; and by the treasures which 
he brought home, as well as the accounts which he circu- 
lated, inflamed the avidity of his countrymen. Against 
these piratical acts the Spaniards vehemently remon- 
strated ; but Elizabeth accepted of an entertainment and 
a handsome present from Drake, and gave the Spanish 
ambassador very little satisfaction. Encouraged by the 
countenance of their sovereign, and at length authorized 
by an open declaration of war, English privateers swarm- 
ed around the Spanish coast, both in Europe and America. 
These enterprises became the usual adventure of the times, 
by which the rich expected to increase their wealth, and 
the prodigal to repair their fortunes. In the event of a 

M 



162 LORD BURLEIGH. 

rich prize, Elizabeth was not forgotten ; nor did she ever 
refuse to gratify the captors by graciously accepting their 
presents. These exploits were usually undertaken in part- 
nership, and a vessel or two were sometimes furnished by 
her majesty; a speculation which seldom failed to turn to 
the benefit of the treasury, as the queen's portion of the 
booty, by means of duties, presents, and various other 
allowances, generally proved much greater than her share 
in the equipment. An adventure of Sir Walter Raleigh 
having proved very successful, that experienced courtier 
humbly entreated the queen, who had borne a tenth part 
in the expense, to accept one half of the booty, in lieu 
of all demands. In these enterprises many, indeed, lost 
both their fortunes and their lives ; but the successful 
adventurers alone attracted the public notice, and this 
lottery continued to prove irresistibly tempting. 

It is probable that Cecil, who attended so much to the 
progress of national industry and wealth, perceived many 
bad consequences from this mode of warfare. The atten- 
tion of the nation was withdrawn from manufactures and 
commerce ; the capital and enterprise, which would other- 
wise have remained to the useful arts, were wasted on 
schemes of hazard. The people, neglecting those employ- 
ments from which alone solid and general opulence can be 
derived, were in danger of acquiring the habits and calcu- 
lations of pirates. But there were other and more gene- 
rous passions which rendered the court and the people 
unwilling to hearken to the representations of Cecil. 
Although Spain was at that time the most powerful nation 
in Europe, the English, with vessels far inferior, had 
harassed her mightiest fleet, captured her richest convoys, 
and even burnt her ships in her principal harbours. These 
successes, obtained by courage and skill over a haughty 
enemy, greatly elevated the spirits of our countrymen ; and 
the glory of the English arms became a triumphant theme 
in every mouth. To pursue this gallant course, to follow 
up these blows by new achievements, to lay the pride of 



LORD BURLEIGH. 163 

Spain prostrate at their feet, were the expressions which 
resounded throughout the nation. 

Into these sentiments Elizabeth cordially entered ; for, 
with all the soundness of her understanding, love of fame 
was a predominant passion in her breast, and nothing could 
exceed her desire of being admired, whether for the ima- 
gined charms of her person, or the heroic exploits of her 
subjects. In the present question, the influence of vanity 
was confirmed by a more tender sentiment. The young 
Earl of Essex had now succeeded to that place in her 
affections, which had formerly been held by the Earl of 
Leicester. No quality which could captivate seemed to be 
wanting in this young nobleman. A person uncommonly 
handsome derived new graces from manners easy, frank, 
and popular; and such was the ascendancy of these exter- 
nal advantages, united to a nature liberal and ardent, that 
he had the rare fortune of being; no less the idol of the 
people than the favourite of the sovereign. Yet these 
shining qualities were accompanied by defects, which ren- 
dered him particularly unfit for the management of public 
affairs. Impatient, passionate, and wilful, he was so 
jealous of his honour, as to be inflamed by even an imagi- 
nary insult ; so greedy of fame, that every successful rival 
appeared an enemy ; so fond of military glory, that no 
considerations of policy could restrain him from precipita- 
ting his country into a war, where he might earn distinc- 
tion ; and yet so unfit, from imprudence and heat, for con- 
ducting military operations, that no enterprise could safely 
be trusted to his hands. He had acquired some repu- 
tation in the Spanish war, and eagerly panted for more ; 
he stood forward, therefore, as the vehement opposer of 
Cecil's propositions for peace ; and his influence over the 
queen's affections, j oined to the other considerations which 
we have mentioned, was sufficient to counteract the inten- 
tions of the minister. 

Cecil was no less interested for the glory of his country 
than Essex ; but while he felt how much security depends 

m 2 



164 LORD BURLEIGH. 

on political reputation, he perceived the folly of attempt- 
ing to render a nation glorious by wasting her resources, 
or great by reducing her to imbecility. He knew that, 
with the substance, the shadow must disappear; that if 
the resources of an empire are exhausted, the reputation 
founded on them must soon vanish. Averse to the waste 
of public property, and detesting the wanton effusion of 
human blood, he could not, without indignation, see both 
sovereign and people led away by the same passions as 
Essex, and surrendering the reins of their understandings 
to the delusions of a heated brain. On one occasion, 
when the question of peace and war was debated in coun- 
cil, Essex proceeded, as usual, to declaim in favour of 
continuing hostilities, urging that the Spaniards, being a 
subtle people, ambitious of extending their dominion, im- 
placable enemies to England, bigoted adherents of the 
pope, and professing that no faith was to be observed with 
heretics, were incapable of maintaining the relations of 
peace. Cecil, who felt that, if such arguments prevailed, 
the sword would never be sheathed, could not help indig- 
nantly exclaiming, in the midst of this harangue, " that 
the speaker seemed intent on nothing but blood and 
slaughter." At the close of the debate, perceiving that 
his reasoning was of no avail against the impulses of 
passion, he pulled out a common-prayer book from his 
pocket, and pointed in silence to the words, " Men of 
blood shall not live half their days."* He felt that time 
and experience could alone dispel the delusion : still he 
endeavoured to accelerate that desirable event, by the 
publication of a tract, containing his arguments for peace ; 
these, though disregarded by the multitude, were too 
distinct and forcible not to impress the reflecting and 
moderate, f 

In the policy pursued by England towards France, as 
the passions of men were less interested, the councils of 
Cecil were followed, with little deviation. During the 
* Camden, p. 608. + Ibid. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 165 

short and feeble reign of Francis II., the Duke of Guise, 
with his four brothers, uncles to Mary Queen of Scots, 
had obtained a complete ascendancy in the French govern- 
ment. Powerful from the influence of their house, and 
dignified by their alliance with the royal family, their 
talents, joined to a restless daring ambition, overpowered 
their antagonists, and reduced their monarch to a mere 
instrument in their hands. The recapture of Calais from 
England, which the duke had unexpectedly effected, pro- 
cured him unrivalled popularity ; while his standing forth 
as the leader of the Catholics against the Hugonots, gave 
him unlimited sway over the most numerous portion of the 
people. As the champion of his faith, he prepared to 
enforce its adoption with fire and sword, and to extermi- 
nate Protestantism throughout France. The leaders of 
the Hugonots flew to arms; but, from their inadequate 
resources, they were quickly reduced to extremities, and, 
in despair, applied to Elizabeth for succour. Her com- 
pliance was enforced by the most evident interest, as the 
ambitious Guise aspired to place his niece Mary on the 
throne of England as well as of Scotland. A supply of 
men and money was accordingly sent without delay. 

Throughout all the measures of Elizabeth towards the 
French Hugonots, we perceive the cautious and frugal 
policy of Cecil. He was of opinion that the French Pro- 
testants should, from time to time, be furnished with 
such supplies as might enable them to make head against 
their enemies ; but that it would be folly to embroil his 
country farther than this object required. France and 
England had long regarded each other as dangerous 
rivals ; and he understood human nature too well, to sup- 
pose that a change of religion in the government would 
alter these sentiments. A French sovereign, whether 
Popish or Protestant, would, he knew, be almost equally 
dangerous to England ; and he deemed it extreme folly in 
this country to waste her resources in procuring a decided 
ascendancy to either the insurgent or the royalist faction. 



166 LORD BURLEIGH. 

Such were the maxims which guided the conduct of 
Elizabeth during the French civil wars. When the Hugo- 
nots were almost driven to despair in the minority of 
Charles IX. , she furnished them with some money and 
troops j but a part of the money was advanced by way of 
loan ; and, in return, she obliged her allies to put Havre- 
de-Grace into her hands, as a pledge that Calais should be 
restored to the English crown. When the young Duke of 
Guise, at a subsequent period, had begun to emulate the 
enterprises of his father, and had reduced the Protestants 
to extreme distress, she again revived their spirits by 
timely assistance : but it consisted merely in exciting the 
Protestant German princes to their support ; in lending 
them a sum of money, for which the jewels of the Queen 
of Navarre were deposited with her in pledge ; and in per- 
mitting a hundred gentlemen volunteers to pass over into 
France, where they fought at their own charge. # 

The massacre of St. Bartholomew, in which the court 
of France butchered such multitudes of their unsuspecting 
Protestant subj ects, naturally excited the horror of all the 
Protestant states of Europe. The English, fired with in- 
dignation, eagerly expected to see their government stand 
forward to avenge the rights of religion and humanity; 
and so earnest were the nobility and gentry in the cause, 
that they offered to levy an army of twenty thousand foot 
and ten thousand horse, to transport them to France, and 
maintain them at their own expense.^ But Elizabeth, 
instructed by her wise counsellors, perceived too well the 
consequences of such a crusade, to second the hasty 
resentment of her subjects. She was aware that an attack 
on France, to be effectual, would require such a waste of 
resources as must enfeeble the nation, and render abortive 
all the frugal measures of her reign; that Charles and 
Philip, from a similarity of malignant passions, had formed 
a close union ; that, against such a combination, the suc- 
cess of her utmost efforts in behalf of the French Protes- 
* Camden, p. 423. f Digges, p. 335. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 1 67 

tants was, at best, very doubtful ; that the only certain 
effect of an attack on France would be to exasperate that 
nation, and exhaust her own; and thus render Charles 
and Philip both more eager and more able to accomplish 
her destruction. But while she prudently dissembled her 
indignation, till a more favourable opportunity, by her 
secret pecuniary aids to the Hugonots, she enabled them 
again to take the field against Charles, and to procure 
from his successor, Henry III., conditions comparatively 
favourable. # 

When the gallant King of Navarre was afterwards called 
to the throne of France, she openly assisted him against 
that formidable league of the Catholics, which threatened 
ruin to them both. The apprehended desertion of his 
Swiss and German auxiliaries she prevented by a gift of 
twenty-two thousand pounds, a greater sum, as he de- 
clared, than he had ever before seen; and she added a 
reinforcement of four thousand men, to whose valour he 
owed some important successes. A body of Spanish forces 
having been introduced into Brittany, she furnished three 
thousand men to hasten the expulsion of these dangerous 
neighbours; but stipulated that her charges should be 
repaid her in a twelvemonth, or as soon as the enemy was 
expelled.f She afterwards sent another reinforcement of 

* Camden, p. 452. 

-f- Ibid, p. 561. When we compare these diminutive aids with the 
immense armaments sent to the assistance of allies in the present times, 
we maybe surprised to hear Burleigh extolling the liberality of Elizabeth 
on this occasion, as something altogether extraordinary. Alluding, in a 
letter to our envoy in France, to this body of auxiliaries under Sir John 
.N orris, he adds, tS and besides that, her majesty hath presently sent away 
certain of her ships of war under the charge of Sir Henry Palmer, with 
the number of a thousand men or thereabouts, to serve upon the coast of 
Bretagne against the Spaniards, and against the Leaguers ; thereby her 
majesty's charges grow daily so great, as the French king hath great cause 
to acknowledge her majesty's goodness towards him, beyond all other 
friendships that he hath in the world. And therefore you may do well, when 
you find opportunity, to notify these so great charges both of her majesty 
and of her realm, as we may hereafter find thankfulness both in the king 
and in his subjects." — Birch's Memoirs of Eliz. vol. i., p. 66. 



168 LORD BURLEIGH. 

four thousand men to effect this object, which proved of 
great difficulty. Finally, she formed an alliance with the 
French king, in which it was agreed that they should 
make no peace with Philip but by common consent ; that 
she should assist Henry with a reinforcement of four 
thousand men ; and that he, in return, should refund her 
charges in a twelvemonth, employ a body of troops in aid 
of her forces in expelling the Spaniards from Brittany, and 
consign into her hands a sea-port of that province for a 
retreat to the English. # On various occasions she advanced 
him sums to the amount of a hundred thousand pounds, 
but always in the form of a loan : and when, at length, he 
began to acquire a decided superiority over his enemies, 
her succours became more sparing as his exigencies became 
less pressing. 

While Elizabeth thus avoided a waste of her resources, 
her aid was so efficient, that Henry IV. gratefully at- 
tributed his triumph to her assistance. A more liberal 
distribution of her succours would often have been agree- 
able to him ; yet, as he could not but admire a conduct 
so wise, and dictated by maxims so congenial to his own, 
he continued her steady and sincere friend to the end of 
her life. Accustomed as we have been, in the present 
age, to see vast expeditions undertaken against our con- 
tinental enemies, and vast subsidies thrown, without re- 
flection, into the hands of our allies, we may be apt to 
look on this policy of Elizabeth's government as timid 
and ungenerous. Yet, with an expense of men and money 
almost too trifling to be perceptible, it procured for Eng- 
land advantages, greater perhaps than would have resulted 
from mighty armaments and lavish disbursements. Her 
Protestant allies were not alarmed by the overwhelming 
succours of an ancient enemy, nor rendered odious in the 
sight of their countrymen by a too evident dependence 
on a foreign power. The French people were not roused 
to any general combination against her, from the appre- 
* Rvmer, vol. xvi. 



LORD BURLEIGH. J 69 

hension of passing under her yoke, or sustaining the dis- 
memberment of their territory. 

The policy which the English government pursued with 
respect to Scotland, led to some of the most questionable 
incidents of Elizabeth's reign. That country, narrow and 
thinly peopled as it was, required the incessant attention 
of its southern neighbour. England, divided from the rest 
of the world by stormy seas, on which her own fleets now 
began to ride triumphant, could not be assailed without 
the most imminent hazard. As a foreign enemy, sur- 
rounded by an uncertain element and annoyed by her 
fleets, which might eventually cut off both his supplies 
and his retreat, could hope for safety only from her entire 
subjugation, the preparations requisite for such an en- 
terprise would be too vast to be long concealed, and too 
protracted to be completed before her plans for defence 
should be matured. But against Scotland she was aided 
by no such bulwark : in that country stood an array of 
combatants, dexterous in regular warfare, and separated 
from her only by a fordable river, or an imaginary line ; 
they might assemble and invade her in force, before the 
news of their approach could reach the seat of government. 
Even if her hasty levies should succeed in repelling the 
incursion, still the enemy might retire to his own country, 
loaded with booty and secure from pursuit ; while the loss 
of a battle might expose all her northern counties to 
devastation. 

These, the permanent dangers from an enemy in the 
north, were at this time increased by circumstances of 
great importance. Since Mary, the youthful Queen of 
Scotland, had espoused the heir-apparent to the throne of 
France, the counsels and energies of both these countries 
were under the control of her ambitious maternal uncles, 
the princes of Lorraine. The enterprises which these 
daring leaders had planned, led them to exert the whole 
of their power in attempting to dethrone Elizabeth. They 
had founded their plans on standing forth as the champions 



170 LORD BURLEIGH. 

of the church, and leaders of the Catholic league ; while 
the power of Elizabeth formed the great bulwark of the 
Protestants. Nor did their means seem inadequate to the 
mighty undertaking of subverting her throne, and acquir- 
ing the uncontrouled sway of the three kingdoms. The 
title of their niece, Mary, to the throne of England, was 
accounted preferable to that of Elizabeth by all good 
Catholics, who held the marriage of Henry with Catharine 
to be indissoluble, unless by the authority of the pope. 
The portion of the English people which still adhered to 
the Romish communion was considerable, while the fa- 
vourers of the Reformation in Scotland seemed as yet no 
ways formidable. If heresy could there be checked in 
the bud, and the whole Scottish nation rendered the par- 
tisans of their cause, the princes of Lorraine had grounds 
for expectations by no means chimerical. From France, 
from Spain, and the other countries which abetted the 
Catholic league, they might hope to pour into Scotland 
such a body of disciplined troops, as, uniting with the 
natives, and entering England on her defenceless side, 
should disperse the raw levies of Elizabeth, and place 
their niece on her throne. 

These intentions were manifested by the first move- 
ments in the gigantic plan. No sooner was the death of 
Mary of England announced in France, than the Queen 
of Scots and her husband endeavoured to keep alive the 
hopes of their partisans, by assuming the arms and title 
of King and Queen of England. This parade proved 
rather injurious than useful to the projects of the house 
of Guise, by discovering their designs, and putting their 
enemies on their guard; but more energetic measures 
were, in conformity to their counsels, adopted by their 
sister, the Queen-dowager and Regent of Scotland. That 
princess, naturally moderate and politic, had hitherto pur- 
sued a system so mild and conciliating, as had, in a great 
measure, lulled the dangerous dissensions of her country. 
Now, however, from an undue subserviency to the designs 



LORD BURLEIGH. 171 

of her brothers, the fatal error of her character, she began 
to attempt the extirpation of Protestantism, by mingling 
a cruelty which should have shocked her humanity, with 
a faithlessness from which her moral feelings ought to 
have revolted. The sufferers at length betook themselves 
to arms; but the vigour and dexterity of the regent, sup- 
ported by a body of veteran French troops, soon compelled 
them to implore assistance from the common protectress 
of the Reformation. 

There were certain circumstances which rendered 
Elizabeth much less forward in their support than her in- 
terest seemed to demand. The principles of the Scottish 
Protestants, especially in regard to the form of worship, 
went far beyond her ideas of reformation ; and the strong 
tincture of republicanism which appeared in their politics, 
rendered them, in her eyes, suspected and dangerous. To 
abet rebellious subjects, is always a delicate undertaking 
for sovereigns ; but in a country so closely connected with 
her own, by vicinity, language, and manners, it seemed 
most unsafe to encourage the supporters of those civil and 
religious principles, which, at home, ail her authority was 
employed to suppress. # To these dissuasives, her love of 
economy gave additional force ; since it was manifest that 
the necessities of the Scots would require considerable 
supplies, while their poverty left her no hope of reim- 
bursement. 

It was, we are informed, by the representations of Cecil, 
that she at length permitted these considerations to give 
way to others still more urgent and important. Two 
papers, written with his own hand, and still preserved, 
contain the reasonings in which he explained to the queen 
and her council the propriety and necessity of interfer- 
ing in the affairs of Scotland.f Setting out with the 
principle that every society has a right to provide for its 

* Elizabeth's letter to the Earl of Beldford, in Appendix XIII. to 
Robertson's Scotland. 

t Burnet, vol. iii. Appendix. 



172 LORD BURLEIGH. 

security both against present and future dangers, and to 
turn against its enemies the means employed by them for 
its annoyance, he proceeds to show, that the safety of 
England could be secured only by sending powerful and 
immediate assistance to the Scottish Protestants. Eliza- 
beth felt the force of these arguments ; but her first 
succours, consisting in some small remittances of money, 
were so inadequate, as to produce no effect in favour of 
her friends. Afterwards, however, when Scotland could 
not otherwise be rescued from entire subjugation by her 
enemies, she formed with the Protestants a league offen- 
sive and defensive; sent a powerful fleet to guard the 
Forth agaist reinforcements from France; and, by the 
aid of a land force, enabled the Scots to drive the French 
from the field, and besiege them in their last refuge at 
Leith. 

This timely and vigorous effort in support of the Scot- 
tish Protestants led to a treaty, in which Cecil and Dr. 
Wotton, the plenipotentiaries of Elizabeth, partly from 
their talents, partly from the desperate situation of their 
enemies, procured the most advantageous terms for their 
allies. The Scottish parliament, of which the great maj ority 
now adhered to the reformed faith, obtained almost the 
whole direction of public affairs. It was stipulated, that 
this assembly should meet and act with the same full pow- 
ers as if formally convoked by the sovereign ; that, during 
the absence of their young queen, the administration should 
be vested in twelve commissioners, of which the queen 
should select seven, and the parliament five, out of twenty- 
four persons named by the parliament ; that, without the 
consent of this assembly, neither war should be declared 
nor peace concluded; that the French troops should be 
immediately removed to their own country, and the for- 
tresses of Leith and Dunbar, then in their possession 
demolished ; that in future no foreign troops should be 
introduced, and no fort erected, without the permission 
of parliament ; that no foreigner should hereafter be ad- 



LORD BURLEIGH. 173 

vanced to any place of trust or dignity in the kingdom ; 
and that there should be a general act of amnesty for 
those who had opposed the measures of government. The 
security of the Protestant faith was fully provided for by 
an article, which left all matters respecting religion to the 
decision of parliament. # 

The politic moderation of Elizabeth and her ministers 
was conspicuous in the articles stipulated for England. 
The English forces, as well as the French, were to be with- 
drawn from Scotland; former treaties were renewed, and 
the only additional article was, that the right of Elizabeth 
to the English throne should be formally acknowledged, 
Mary and her husband ceasing, from thence forward, to 
assume the title or bear the arms of England. Elizabeth 
had indeed enjoined her plenipotentiaries to demand five 
hundred thousand crowns, and the restitution of Calais, 
as a compensation for the indignity already offered to her, 
by the assumption of her arms and title ; but these condi- 
tions, to which the French commissioners had no power 
to agree, were at length referred to future discussion. f 

At so small an expense, and with an exertion so trivial, 
compared to the magnitude of the object, did the English 
government, by its vigour and sagacity, succeed in giving 
a complete ascendancy to its Protestant allies in Scotland. 
And when the Catholic religion was abolished, and the 
reformed established by law, that country, instead of 
affording particular facilities to the enemies of Elizabeth, 
became a new bulwark to her throne. 

The return of Mary to Scotland, and her assumption of 
the reins of government, led to plans of policy, in which 
the passions of Elizabeth interfered so much with the 
dictates of her understanding, and the counsels of her 
ministers, that we are bewildered amidst the effects of an 
irresolution, duplicity, and contradiction, which her usual 

* Keith, 137. Rymer, vol. xv., p. 593. 

f See letter of Elizabeth to Cecil and Wotton, in Lodge's Illustrations 
of British History, vol. L, p. 338. 



174 LORD BURLEIGH. 

systematic procedure does not prepare us to expect. The 
unfortunate Mary undertook the administration of her 
kingdom in circumstances, where the sagacity of ex- 
perience and the coolness of age could scarcely have 
conducted, to a successful issue, the delicate interests 
committed to youth and indiscretion. Her subjects, still 
in the ferment of a religious revolution, entertained violent 
prejudices against their sovereign. It was fresh in their 
recollection, that the cruel persecutions from which they 
had just escaped, were carried on at the instigation of 
Mary's uncles, and under the authority of her mother; 
and they knew that plans were concerted by the house of 
Guise for the final extirpation of the Protestant religion. 
Unfortunately they had too strong reasons to suspect that 
their queen, devoted to popery and to the will of her 
uncles, would not scruple to concur in the most dangerous 
designs. Stimulated by these considerations, they scru- 
tinized every step of her conduct with the most jealous 
care ; and as the rudeness of manners in that age had been 
heightened by the convulsions and dangers of a revolution, 
they treated her with a harshness, which, in her eyes, 
might well appear indignity to a sovereign, and brutality 
to a woman. 

Mary, educated in the polished, gay, and arbitrary 
court of France, was equally shocked with the coarseness 
of the Scots, the moroseness of their manners, and the 
republican principles which they had imbibed with their 
new religion. Nor were her more serious thoughts less 
outraged than her taste. While scarcely allowed to 
exercise, in her private chapel, those rites to which she 
was fondly attached, she daily heard them treated with 
insulting contumely, and herself reproached as a deluded 
and desperate idolatress. With a spirit too high, and 
with passions too lively to submit to such mortification, 
or to win the confidence of her people by a train of 
prudent and conciliating measures, she endeavoured, in 
the conversation and amusement of a few favourite do- 



LORD BURLEIGH. 175 

mestics, to recall her former scenes of enjoyment, and to 
lose the recollection of her present hardships. But by a 
peculiar infelicity, the attachments of Mary were more 
fatal to her happiness than even her aversions; and the 
unworthy objects, on whom her affection was successively 
fixed, proved the principal means of precipitating her ruin. 
By her choice of a youth, whose head and heart were no 
less defective than his external appearance was captivating, 
a Catholic in his creed and a libertine in his morals, she 
shocked the pious, and alienated the wise ; # and when her 
infatuated fondness was soon succeeded by unconquerable 
aversion, the change was attributed, not to the return of 
reason, but the fickleness of passion. The confidence 
and familiarity with which she distinguished an unworthy 
minion, seemed to argue a strange depravity of taste; 
which her enemies readily accounted for, by supposing a 
still stranger depravity of morals. But when, in opposi- 
tion to the united voice of her subjects, to all laws divine 
and human, she bestowed her affections on the murderer 
of her husband, screened him from the vengeance of out- 
raged justice, and made him the partaker of her bed and 
her authority, the indignation of her subjects could no 
longer be kept within the bounds of allegiance. They 
took up arms against her, formally deposed her from the 
sovereignty, and finally compelled her to seek for refuge 
in England. 

During these transactions, the interference of the Eng- 
lish government was hesitating, indecisive, and contradic- 
tory. The confidential ministers of Elizabeth, strongly 
tinctured with the religious opinions of the Scottish re- 
formers, and looking on the ascendancy of Mary as the 
chief source of danger to their government, appear to have 
been unanimously of opinion that the Scottish Protestants 
ought to be supported ; and their queen, if not dethroned, 
at least involved in perpetual difficulties. Had Elizabeth 

* See letter from Randolph to Leicester, in Appendix XI. to Robert- 
son's Scotland. 



176 LORD BURLEIGH. 

consulted merely her personal feelings towards Mary, her 
measures would have been no less hostile than the coun- 
sels of her ministers. Her resentment against a compe- 
titor who had assumed her title, and affected to consider 
her birth as illegitimate, was aggravated by hatred of a 
rival, who eclipsed her in those personal charms of which 
she was no less tenacious than of her sovereignty. The 
animosity thus fostered in her breast became apparent 
on various occasions. When Mary, on her return from 
France to her own dominions, solicited a safe-conduct 
from Elizabeth, this request, although a mere matter of 
complaisance, was refused by the latter, with an ill- 
humour which seemed to indicate very unfriendly inten- 
tions. 5 ^ In the same manner, every overture for the mar- 
riage of the Scottish queen was industriously counteracted 
by her jealous neighbour; and when Darnley at length 
became the object of her choice, Elizabeth reproached her 
with this marriage, as with a crime against herself and 
her government. Nor did Mary take any measures to 
conciliate a rival, whom she looked on as the usurper of 
her rights, and the enemy of her person and religion. 
She refused to ratify that article of the treaty of Edinburgh 
by which she was bound to renounce her claims to the 
English throne; and she occasionally expressed her in- 
dignation, with more frankness than prudence, against the 
ill-concealed malignity of Elizabeth, f 

Yet, notwithstanding her personal animosity to Mary, 
the Queen of England was far from entering cordially into 
the views of the Scottish Protestants. Their tenets, both 
civil and religious, so nearly allied to those of her own 
puritans, were the object of her decided aversion; their 
ascendancy was the last means by which she wished the 
humiliation of her rival. The imprudent attachments, and 
the consequent unpopularity and ignominy of the Scottish 
queen, probably afforded her more satisfaction than regret; 
and it appears that her ambassadors, of themselves well 
* See Appendix VI. to Robertson's Scotland. f Keith, App. 159. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 177 

inclined to the task, were encouraged in fomenting the 
dissensions between the court and the people of Scotland. 
But when the "Congregation" proceeded to try their 
sovereign for the crimes of which she was accused, and to 
deprive her of her throne and her liberty, in consequence 
of their own award, the high monarchical sentiments of 
Elizabeth were alarmed. She sternly demanded an expla- 
nation of their presumptuous conduct; and as their re- 
publican justification was even more offensive to her than 
their measures, she endeavoured by threats to procure the 
release and restoration of their sovereign. She seems even 
to have formed the resolution of attempting this object by 
force of arms, in opposition to the strenuous remonstrances 
of Cecil and her other ministers, who represented the 
danger of employing her arms to crush her most useful 
friends, and reinstate her mortal enemy. So thoroughly 
were the Scottish Protestants convinced 'of her alienation 
from their interests, that they refused her ambassador 
admittance to their captive queen, and prepared to support 
themselves by other alliances. Already had their over- 
tures been favourably received by the French, who made 
no scruple of abandoning Mary, provided they could 
maintain their ascendancy in Scotland ; and the English 
resident had repeatedly warned his court of this danger, 
inevitable, unless Elizabeth should alter her conduct 
towards the Scottish Protestants.^ 

The escape of Mary from confinement, and her subse- 
quent retreat into England, produced a new course of policy 
on the part of Elizabeth. Her confidential ministers, more 
alive to the supposed interests of their country and religion 
than to the dictates of generosity, seem to have been 
unanimously of opinion, that the Scottish queen, instead 
of being aided by Elizabeth against her subjects, should, 
under specious pretences, be detained in a lasting cap- 

* See a letter from Sir Nicholas Throgmorton to Cecil, in Appendix 
XXI. to Robertson's Scotland. Also from the same to Queen Eliza- 
beth, ibid. 

N 



178 LORD BURLEIGH. 

tivity. # Her enmity to the Protestant religion, and 
to Elizabeth, they considered implacable ; and were she 
restored by the arms of England to her throne, she would 
not, they thought, scruple to turn her regained authority 
against her benefactors. On the other hand, her detention 
would give the English government a complete control 
over the affairs of Scotland ; for the Scottish Protestants 
would not fail to respect her will,' while she had their 
queen in her hands, and could punish them by restoring 
an exasperated sovereign to their throne. Nor did they 
see how these advantages could be attained by a procedure 
less harsh than the captivity of Mary. To refuse her an 
asylum would be replete with danger : that high-spirited 
princess would not fail to raise France and Spain in her 
cause ; to procure from their willing ambition large forces 
for her restoration ; and, stimulated both by ancient and 
recent animosities, to employ her recovered power in hos- 
tility to England. 

These representations produced a powerful impression on 
Elizabeth, confirmed as they were by certain peculiarities 
in the situation of her rival, which admitted of severe 
measures being taken against her, without compromising 
the cause of sovereigns, or exciting general indignation 
against herself. Mary was accused of a crime horrible 
to mankind, — participation in the murder of her husband ; 
and her marriage with his reputed murderer had impressed 
a belief of her guilt, not easily to be effaced. While she 
laboured under the general indignation, her detention 
would be applauded by many, and warmly resented by 
none. On the other hand, the throne, if upheld as a 
sanctuary for such crimes, would become odious in the 
eyes of all; and Elizabeth, in supporting such a tenet, 

* Lodge, vol. ii., pp. 4, 5. A remarkable letter from the Earl of 
Sussex to Cecil, written so early after the flight of Mary as the 22nd of 
October 1568, and containing an urgent exhortation to that very policy 
which was afterwards pursued with regard to her, is inserted in Appen- 
dix (D). Also the deliberations of Cecil on the same subject. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 179 

would weaken her own authority, while she outraged the 
feelings of mankind. 

These considerations made Elizabeth determine to detain 
the Scottish queen, not as a royal guest who had come 
to claim her protection, but as a prisoner brought by 
happy accident into her power. From this commence- 
ment, her hatred to Mary progressively increased by a 
variety of causes. Conscious that the detention of Mary 
was a new source of resentment, the commission of the 
injury became a cause for its aggravation. Deriving from 
the ill-advised concessions, and subsequent retractations 
of the Scottish queen, a semblance of right to judge in her 
cause, and a colour for assuming her guilt as undeniable, 
both she and her people came gradually to regard the 
captive less as a sovereign princess, than as a criminal 
subject of England. The mind of Elizabeth was perpetu- 
ally agitated by the apprehension of her prisoner's escape, 
and more than once by the discovery of conspiracies, 
which Mary incautiously countenanced. All these proved 
new incentives to her hatred, and prompted her to a mea- 
sure from which her tenderness for the rights of sovereigns 
would at first have made her revolt with horror. 

From the letters and the conduct of Elizabeth in regard 
to Mary, we perceive that she aimed at two irreconcilable 
objects. She longed for the destruction of her dangerous 
prisoner, and she no less earnestly desired to have it accom- 
plished without her apparent concurrence or connivance. 
She seems to have long hoped that Mary would sink 
under the rigours of her confinement, or fall a sacrifice to 
the discontent of her keeper. The Earl of Shrewsbury, to 
whose custody she was entrusted, was subjected to great 
restraint and privation. Although entirely devoted to 
Elizabeth, and sufficiently willing to deprive Mary of every 
enjoyment, # his disposition was rendered still more nar- 
row and intractable by the severe and ungenerous usage 
which he experienced from his sovereign. The allowances 

* See Shrewsbury's letter to Lord Burghlev, in Lodge, vol. ii., p. 68. 

N 2 



180 LORD BURLEIGH. 

which he received for the maintenance of the Queen of 
Scots were so inadequate, that the deficiency impaired his 
private fortune ; and after many years of this unprofitable 
charge, when he at length expected some signal mark of 
royal bounty, to his inexpressible astonishment and mor- 
tification, he received an order from court, by which his 
appointments, instead of being increased, were diminished 
one half. # When the retrenchments which this strange 
piece of economy naturally led him to make in the diet 
and accommodations of Mary were complained of by the 
French ambassador, Shrewsbury received a letter from 
court, expressing the displeasure of his queen in strong 
terms, but containing no intimation that his former allow- 
ances would be restored, f 

Other circumstances concurred to make Shrewsbury dis- 
satisfied with his charge. As his whole time and attention 
were occupied in watching over his prisoner, his private 
affairs were neglected ; and his tenants in various parts of 
the country, taking advantage of his situation, contrived to 
evade his claims by involving him in troublesome lawsuits. J 
If he ventured on an excursion from the residence of Mary, 
he was sure to be reminded, § by a severe reprimand, of his 
duty. || If a friend happened to pay him a visit, a letter, 
full of insinuations, showed him that the jealousy of his 
sovereign was roused. At length, by a strange excess of 
severity, his very children were not permitted to visit him; 
and he was almost reduced to despair, when his earnest 
entreaties, seconded by the friendship of Cecil and some 
of the other ministers, procured his release from an intole- 
rable bondage. If 

To Sir Amias Paulet, one of the gentlemen to whom the 
royal prisoner was afterwards committed, Elizabeth seems 
to have given a much more explicit intimation of her 

* Letters from Shrewsbury to Lord Burghley, in Lodge, vol. ii., pp. 
244, 270, 272. 

t Letter from Leicester to Shrewsbury, ibid, p. 253. 

X Letter from the Earl of Shrewsbury, ibid, p. 275. § Ibid. 

|| Letter from Shrewsbury to the Queen, ibid, p. 246. 

f Letters from the same to Lord Burghley, ibid, pp. 248, 347. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 181 

wishes. Paulet had entered into the loyal association for 
bringing to punishment all pretenders to the throne, who 
should attempt her life ; and she seemed to expect that 
he would rid her of her enemy, without subjecting her to 
the necessity, which she so earnestly wished to avoid, of 
actually signing the death-warrant. # This gentleman re- 
fused to be her instrument in so base a deed, which she 
would have both disavowed and punished ; and no other 
coarse remained, but to authorize the execution of the 
sentence against Mary : but Elizabeth affected the utmost 
reluctance to a step which her parliament and people, who 
heartily hated and dreaded the Queen of Scots, so earnest- 
ly pressed. To such a length were her hopes of deceiving 
mankind by this duplicity carried, that, even after having 
deliberately signed the warrant, and delivered it to Davi- 
son, her secretary of state, she pretended, on hearing that 
it was actually executed, the utmost astonishment, grief, 
and indignation. Loudly accusing the secretary of having 
surreptitiously sent off the warrant, in direct opposition 
to her inclination, she caused the unfortunate man to be 
subjected on this charge to a heavy fine, which she levied, 
to his utter ruin. 

If the part which Cecil bore in these transactions has 
brought censure on his memory, it brought no less un- 
happiness on his mind. His opinion respecting the Queen 
of Scots, and the manner of her treatment, coincided with 
those of his colleagues in office. While he looked on her 
as the most dangerous enemy of his sovereign and his 
religion, he considered her liberty, and even her life, as 
scarcely compatible with the safety of either. Yet her 
confinement freed him neither from anxiety nor danger ; 
his vigilance was incessantly occupied in counteracting 
the plots of her partisans, which aimed to involve himself 
and his queen in one destruction. Mary even proved a 
source of disquietude to him in a way which he could 
least have expected. Having, from motives of humanity, 
* Secretary Davison's Apology, in Camden's Annals, p. 545. 



182 LORD BURLEIGH. 

obtained Elizabeth's reluctant consent that the captive 
queen, whose health had suffered much from confinement, 
should be carried to Buxton Wells for her recovery, # he 
happened, during her stay there, to visit the same place 
for the relief of his own complaints. His j ealous sovereign, 
connecting this accidental meeting with his frequent 
applications to mitigate the severities practised against 
Mary, (for he was averse to all unnecessary harshness,) 
conceived the strange suspicion that he had a private un- 
derstanding with the Queen of Scots, and had repaired 
to Buxton for the purpose of maturing some treacherous 
project, f Nor was this chimerical surmise the transient 
apprehension of a moment. On his return to court, he 
was charged by Elizabeth with this imaginary intrigue, in 
terms most injurious to his tried fidelity; and he found it 
prudent to decline a match between his daughter and the 
son of the Earl of Shrewsbury, the keeper of Mary, and 
the supposed agent in their secret negotiations. J 

But while thus strangely suspected by Elizabeth, Cecil 
was, above all others, obnoxious to the partisans of Mary. 
Having been the chief means of discovering and overthrow- 
ing the conspiracies of Norfolk, he was reproached as 
the cause of that popular nobleman's death ; though the 
repetition of the duke's treasonable attempts, after he had 
once been pardoned, seemed to render him no fit object 
of royal clemency. To consider Cecil as his private enemy, 
seems altogether unfair. He was instrumental in procur- 
ing the pardon of Norfolk after his first offence ; he endea- 
voured, by salutary counsels, to dissuade him from the 
prosecution of his pernicious schemes ; and, in some of his 
writings, which still remain, he laments the infatuation 
of his grace, which rendered all good subjects his public 
enemies, however they might respect his private virtues. § 

* Letter from Cecil to Shrewsbury, in Lodge, vol. ii., p. 111. 
f Ibid, p. 130. X Ibid. 

§ Camden, p. 255. Lloyd's State Worthies, p. 540. Burleigh's Me- 
ditation on the Reign of Elizabeth, &c. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 183 

Yet the whole odium of Norfolk's death was thrown on 
him ; and the general reproach was countenanced by the 
unblushing duplicity of Elizabeth. That princess, though 
she had authorized the execution without any reluctance, 
was anxious to have it believed that she had only yielded 
to the importunities of Cecil. The minister was, for some 
time after, treated as a person who had deluded her into 
an act repugnant to her nature ; and he was not received 
again into her presence and favour, until she thought that 
appearances were sufficiently satisfied. But he had yet to 
connect a private and deeper affliction with the fate of 
Norfolk. One of Cecil's daughters was unfortunately 
married to a profligate husband, the Earl of Oxford : that 
young nobleman, much attached to Norfolk, threatened 
his father-in-law, that, unless he would undertake to pro- 
cure the duke's pardon, he would do all in his power to 
ruin his daughter. This threat he executed with inhuman 
punctuality; and after having deserted her bed, and 
squandered his fortune in the most abandoned courses, he 
brought, by a train of barbarous usage, his innocent vic- 
tim to an untimely grave. # 

The selfish Elizabeth felt no remorse in attempting to 
load Cecil with the odium of the execution of Mary, as 
well as of Norfolk. He appears to have had no greater 
share in advising it than the other ministers ; but as he 
was accounted a principal enemy of the Queen of Scots, 
Elizabeth judged that an imputation against him would 
be most readily received ; and with this ungenerous view, 
she banished him from her presence, and treated him with 
all the harshness due to an unfaithful counsellor. Cecil 
appears, on this occasion, to have been seriously alarmed ; 
ministers were not, in that age, protected against the 
crown, and the misfortunes of Secretary Davison, then 
passing before his eyes, proved to him that, if Elizabeth 
should account a further sacrifice necessary for her pur- 
poses, little was to be expected either from her justice or 
* Dugdale's Baronage, vol. ii., p. 169. 



184 LORD BURLEIGH. 

gratitude. But as the sincerity of her indignation had 
been testified, sufficiently for political purposes, by the 
ruin of Davison, and as the services of Cecil were too 
useful to be dispensed with, she suffered herself to be at 
length mollified, and received him again into favour. # 



We have now taken a survey of the part acted by Cecil 
in regard to religion, to domestic and to foreign policy. 
A striking characteristic, and one hardly ever possessed to 
an equal degree by other statesmen, was a uniformity in 
his plans, the result of a mind always cool and deliberate, 
seldom blinded by prejudice, and never precipitated by pas- 
sion. On some occasions we may dissent from his opinion, 
and in a few, we may suspect the qualities of his heart : 
but, in general, we must allow that the measures which 
Elizabeth pursued in opposition to his sentiments, were the 
chief defects of her government ; while those, which she 
adopted in conformity to his counsels, produced the boast- 
ed prosperity and glory of her reign. 

It has long since been observed, that the most success- 
ful statesman is scarcely an object of envy ; that his pre- 
eminence is dearly purchased by unceasing disquietudes, 
and that his honours are an inadequate compensation for 
his mortifications and dangers. While nations, like indi- 
viduals, are liable to be agitated by violent passions, and 
misled by false views of interest, the advocate of modera- 
tion and peace is often the object of popular reproach. 
Such was not unfrequently the case of Cecil. So wildly 
were the minds of men possessed with the prospect of mili- 
tary glory and Mexican gold, that his opposition to the 
continuance of the Spanish war subjected him even to per- 
sonal danger from the populace. The more violent among 
the clergy, because he attempted to restrain their persecut- 
ing spirit, reviled him as a puritan in disguise, as a secret 
enemy to the church; while the more zealous dissenters 
* Strype's Annals, vol. iii., p. 370. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 185 

were no less suspicious of his endeavours to persuade them 
into conformity. From his supposed influence in public 
affairs, the enemies of government were also his personal 
enemies. The friends of Mary Queen of Scots, and the 
partisans of the popish religion, regarded him as their 
capital foe; and not satisfied with incessantly defaming 
him by libels, they attempted more than once to take him 
off by assassination. In one of these attempts, for which 
two assassins were executed, the Spanish ambassador was 
suspected to have been concerned, and was, in conse- 
quence, ordered to depart the kingdom. 

His influence with Elizabeth exposed him to equal 
hatred from the majority of the courtiers. The Earl of 
Leicester was at the head of all the intrigues against him, 
and made, on one occasion, a bold effort to accomplish 
his ruin. In concert with the principal courtiers, he plan- 
ned that Cecil should be unexpectedly accused before the 
privy council, arrested without the knowledge of the queen, 
and immediately sent to the Tower. When thus removed 
from the queen's presence, abundance of accusations, it 
was imagined, might be procured to elicit her consent to 
his trial and condemnation^ This plot had nearly reached 
its accomplishment, and Cecil was resisting his accusers 
in the privy council with very little effect ; when Eliza- 
beth, who had been privately informed of the design, sud- 
denly entered the room, and addressed, to the astonished 
counsellors, one of those appalling reprimands, which were 
more distinguished for vigour than delicacy.f 

As a compensation for these disquietudes, and a recom- 
pense for his services, we should not be surprised to find 
Cecil loaded with the favours of his sovereign. But that 
princess was proverbially frugal of her rewards. Her love 
of economy was frequently carried to a blameable excess, 
and her confidential ministers abridged of the means to 
serve her with advantage. There remain various letters of 
Sir Francis Walsingham, complaining of his being wholly 
* Life of William Lord Burghlev, p. 19. f Camden's Annal. Eliz. 



186 LORD BURLEIGH. 

unable, on his scanty appointments, to support his esta- 
blishment, though very inadequate to his quality of am- 
bassador in France. # Other ministers had equal reason for 
complaint ; and there were many more fortunes spent than 
made in her service. In the distribution of honours her 
frugality was no less conspicuous, and could be ascribed 
only to sound policy, uninfluenced by meaner motives. 
Aware that titles, unless accounted indicative of real merit 
in those on whom they were bestowed, would cease to 
confer distinction, she distributed them with a careful and 
sparing hand ; and the honours of the Earl of Leicester 
afford perhaps a solitary instance, in her reign, of a title 
acquired without desert. A title from Elizabeth was con- 
sequently a real reward, and was deemed an adequate 
retribution for the most important services. 

If Cecil was better rewarded than the other ministers, 
we must own that his claims were greater ; and we shall 
find that the favours which he received were neither hastily 
bestowed, nor carried beyond his merits. In consequence 
of his efforts in repressing the rebellion which attended the 
Duke of Norfolk's first conspiracy, he was created a baron, 
the highest title he ever attained. The other favours which 
he received, consisting in official situations, could hardly 
be denominated rewards, since they brought him addi- 
tional business, which he executed with punctuality and 
diligence. After concluding the treaty of Edinburgh, he 
was appointed master of the wards, an office in virtue of 
which he had to preside in the court of wards, and to 
determine a variety of questions between the sovereign and 
the subject. Eleven years afterwards, Lord Burleigh (such 
was his new title) was raised to the office of lord high 
treasurer, which, along with great dignity, brought him 
an immense addition of complicated business. An accu- 
mulation of offices in the hands of one man naturally 
led to much envy, and was certainly a very blameable 
precedent ; but the fidelity and ability with which he 
* Harleian MSS. in British Museum, No. 260. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 187 

executed their duties must, in his case, alleviate the 
censure of posterity. 

Lord Burleigh continued minister during a period of 
unexampled length, and in an age when men in office were 
exposed to the rudest assaults of faction and intrigue. To 
investigate the means by which he maintained his station 
cannot fail to be instructive, devoid as they were of the 
craft and subtlety so frequently connected with the name 
of politician. The arts to which he owed his success were 
not less honourable than skilful, and would have raised 
him to influence and reputation in the walks of private 
life. For nothing was he more remarkable than for his 
unremitting diligence and scrupulous punctuality. What- 
ever the engagements of others, whether the pursuit of 
pleasure or the cabals of the court, Burleigh was always 
found at his post, intensely occupied with the duties of 
office and the cares of government. A young courtier of 
those times, while describing the intrigues with which all 
around him were busied, observes, " My lord treasurer, 
even after the old manner, dealeth with matters of state 
only, and beareth himself very uprightly. " # The degree 
of his industry may be estimated from its effects, which 
were altogether wonderful. As principal secretary of state, 
and, for a considerable time, as sole secretary, he managed 
a great proportion of the public business, both foreign and 
domestic : he conducted negotiations, planned expeditions, 
watched over the machinations of internal enemies, em- 
ployed private sources of intelligence, assisted at the 
deliberations of the privy council and parliament, and 
wrote many tracts on the state of affairs. When created 
lord high treasurer, his concern with the general affairs of 
government continued ; while he had, moreover, to attend 
to the receipts and disbursements of the nation, to devise 
means for replenishing the treasury, and to sit occasionally 
in the court of exchequer, as judge between the people 

* Letter from Gilbert Talbot to the Earl of Shrewsbury, in Lodge, 
vol. ii., p. 100. - 



188 LORD BURLEIGH. 

and the officers of the revenue. As master of the court of 
wards he had much judicial occupation during term, for 
his equitable decisions brought before him an unusual 
accumulation of suits. Nor did he neglect those numerous 
petitions with which he was perpetually importuned, some 
demanding the reward of services, others imploring the 
redress of injuries; and, amidst all these avocations, his 
private affairs were managed with the same precision as 
those of the state. 

All this load of business he was enabled, by assiduous 
application and exact method, to dispatch without either 
hurry or confusion. In conformity to his favourite maxim, 
that " the shortest way to do many things is to do only 
one thing at once," he finished each branch of business 
before he proceeded to another, and never left a thing 
undone with the view of recurring to it at a period of more 
leisure. In the courts where he presided, he dispatched 
as many causes in one term as his predecessors in a twelve- 
month.^' When pressed with an accumulation of affairs, 
which frequently happened, he rather chose to encroach 
on the moderate intervals usually allowed to his meals and 
his sleep, than to omit any part of his task. Even when 
labouring under pain, and in danger of increasing his 
malady, he frequently caused himself to be carried to his 
office, for the dispatch of business. An eye-witness 
assures us that, during a period of twenty-four years, he 
never saw him idle for half an hour together ;f and if he 
had no particular task to execute, which rarely happened, 
he would still busy himself in reading, writing, or medi- 
tating. J By incessant practice, he acquired a facility and 
dispatch which seemed altogether wonderful to idle cour- 
tiers : it proved of incalculable advantage to government, 
and to himself it gave a decided superiority over his less 
industrious rivals. 

Next to his unequalled diligence and punctuality, we 

are to rank his invincible reserve, whenever reserve was 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 21. f Ibid, p. 24. : Ibid, p. 65. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 189 

necessary. While he avoided that system of deception, 
by which statesmen have so often undertaken to gain their 
ends, he succeeded in concealing his real views by the 
mere maintenance of a guarded secrecy. Perfectly impe- 
netrable to the dexterous agents who were employed to 
sound him, his unaltered countenance and unembarrassed 
motions afforded no means to divine the impressions pro- 
duced on him by any communications. Equally hopeless 
was the attempt to arrive at his political secrets by pro- 
curing access to his most intimate friends ; for he had no 
confidants.*' " Attempts," he said, " are most likely to 
succeed when planned deliberately, carried secretly, and 
executed speedily."f 

The resolution with which he could persevere in his 
reserve, was remarkably exemplified in his silence with 
respect to the succession to the throne. Three rival fa- 
milies at that time claimed this splendid inheritance, — the 
houses of Suffolk and Hastings, and the royal line of 
Scotland : the title of either might have been rendered 
preferable by an act of parliament. But Burleigh saw 
the danger of declaring in favour of one or the other. All 
were at present restrained from improper attempts by their 
expectations; but if the intentions of the queen were once 
known, the disappointed families might be apt to embrace 
those violent measures, from which alone they could then 
hope for success. He determined therefore to maintain a 
profound silence on this delicate question ; and the queen, 
probably in consequence of his counsels, adopted and 
persevered in the same resolution, in spite of all the re- 
monstrances with which she was assailed. The parlia- 
ment often attempted to force a disclosure of her senti- 
ments, and 'she and her minister found much difficulty 
in eluding their importunities : yet Burleigh carried his 
opinion with^him to the grave, and Elizabeth disclosed 
hers only ^on her death-bed. 

No statesman was ^ ever more distinguished for self- 
* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 64. + Ibid, p. 69. 



190 LORD BURLEIGH. 

command and moderation. Collected, calm, and ener- 
getic, in the most critical emergencies, he bore adversity 
without any signs of dejection, and prosperity without any 
apparent elevation.* Yet his coolness had in it nothing 
repulsive; and his self-command was chiefly exerted in 
repressing angry emotions. In council, he was always 
the strenuous advocate of moderate and conciliating mea- 
sures ;f and it was his particular boast that, notwith- 
standing the extent of his private as well as his public 
transactions, he had never sued, nor been sued by any 
man.]; He bore the attacks of his opponents without any 
appearance of resentment; and, in due season, embraced 
opportunities to promote their interest. When the Earl 
of Leicester, who had always thwarted his measures, and 
often calumniated his character, at length fell under the 
queen's displeasure, Burleigh successfully exerted himself 
to prevent his total loss of favour. § Nor did he hesitate 
to form a cordial reconciliation with Sir Nicholas Throg- 
morton, who had long been one of his most dangerous 
enemies, and who had desisted from his practices only 
when he found Burleigh's power too firmly established to 
be shaken. Although Essex was his avowed and turbu- 
lent opponent, yet, when Elizabeth refused some just claim 
of that nobleman, the lord treasurer supported his cause 
with so much firmness, that the enraged queen at length 
bestowed on him some of those vehement epithets by 
which she made her courtiers feel her displeasure. || It 
was observed that he never spoke harshly of his enemies, 
nor embraced any opportunity of revenge : and as he was 
no less on his guard to avoid every undue bias from affec- 
tion, it became a general remark, that he was a better 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 30. 

f " Win hearts," he was accustomed to say to the queen, " and you 
have their hands and purses." — Rush worth's Collections, vol. i., p. 469. 

X Bacon's Works, vol. iv., p. 372. 

§ Letter of Lord Burghley in the Earl of Hardwicke's Miscellaneous 
State Papers, vol. i., p. 329. 

II Birch's Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 147. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 191 

enemy than a friend.* "I entertain," he said, "malice 
against no individual whatever; and I thank God that I 
never retire to rest out of charity with any man."f 

Burleigh possessed great discernment in selecting, and 
great zeal in recommending men of talent for public em- 
ployments. He seemed resolved that England should be 
distinguished above all nations for the integrity of her 
judges, the piety of her divines, and the sagacity of her 
ambassadors. J It was he who discovered, and brought 
into office, Sir Francis Walsingham, so much distin- 
guished, among the ministers of Elizabeth, for acuteness 
of penetration, extensive knowledge of public affairs, and 
profound acquaintance with human nature. The depart- 
ment of foreign affairs was long almost exclusively under 
the management of Burleigh; and there is perhaps no 
period in the history of England, in which her intercourse 
with other countries was committed to such able hands, 
and in which her ambassadors confessedly excelled those 
of other nations in diplomatic talents. By this attention 
to merit and neglect of interest, the treasurer naturally 
incurred much obloquy from those whom his penetration 
caused him to neglect; the nobility, in particular, ex- 
pressed high displeasure at the preference so often given 
to commons, and seemed to think that offices which they 
could not execute, like honours which they had not earned, 
should be entailed on them and their descendants. 

Cecil was never the advocate of cumpulsory or arbi- 
trary measures. Open discussion, far from being attended 
with danger, was, in his opinion, the most effectual and 
innocent means of expending the fury of faction: a forced 
silence seemed to him only to concentre and aggravate 
popular resentment. In the courts where he presided, he 
never gave a judgment without explaining the grounds on 
which he proceeded ; § in matters of state, he refused to 
give his opinion, unless where he might bring forward and 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 59. -f- Ibid. 

J Ibid, pp. 46, 55. § Ibid, p. 33. 



192 LORD BURLEIGH. 

debate the reasons on which it was founded* His in- 
fluence was thus increased by all the weight of reason, 
and he omitted no precaution to give it the sanction of 
impartiality. The solicitations of those who presumed 
most on his favour, from the ties of kindred or familiar 
acquaintance, he received with such coldness, that they 
were carefully avoided by those who knew him best, and 
never by any one repeated. If the cause of his friends 
was tried before him, he gave them rigid justice; if they 
sought preferment in the state, he did not obstruct their 
claims of merit ; but he would listen to no application 
where partiality might blind his judgment, or blemish his 
integrity.^ 

In that age, the eyes of mankind were more strongly 
dazzled than at present by the splendour of rank ; and a 
statesman was more likely to promote his views by atten- 
tions to the great. Yet, with Burleigh, the poor received 
equal measure with the wealthy, and had their suits as 
patiently heard, and as speedily determined. Each day 
in term, it was customary for him to receive from fifty to 
sixty petitions; all of which he commonly perused and 
weighed in the course of the evening or night, and was 
prepared to return an answer next morning, on his way to 
Westminster Hall. As soon as the petitioner mentioned 
his name, Burleigh found no difficulty in recollecting his 
business, and in delivering a reply. When at length con- 
fined to his bed by age and infirmities, and no longer able 
to attend at the courts, he directed that all petitions should 
be sent to him under seal ; and as all were opened in the 
order in which they arrived, and answers immediately 
dictated, the lowest petitioner received his reply with the 
same dispatch as the highest. J 

The early and complete intelligence which Burleigh 
possessed with regard to secret transactions, both at home 
and abroad, was spoken of with wonder by his contempo- 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 68. t Ibid, p. 58. 

t Ibid, pp. 22, 23. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 193 

raries, and enabled him to adopt the promptest measures 
for counteracting all hostile attempts. At a period when 
invasion from abroad, and conspiracy at home, agitated by 
artful intriguers and desperate bigots, it was no season to 
await, in careless slumber, the developement of events : 
but while we admire the extent and happy effects of his 
intelligence, we must hesitate to applaud the methods 
by which it was occasionally procured, and consider them 
as excusable only from the necessity of his situation. 
Obliged to maintain a number of spies, to reward in- 
formers, and to bribe accomplices to betray their asso- 
ciates, he might be condemned for resorting to nefarious 
arts, had they not been indispensable to the public safety, 
at a period when assassinations were so common, and when 
the doctrines of mental reservation, and of keeping no 
faith with heretics, were general tenets among the enemies 
of government. 

Burleigh, by adhering inflexibly to the rule of living 
within his means, escaped those pecuniary embarrassments 
which often beset his less considerate colleagues. His 
income, considerable at an early age, became progressively 
increased by additional offices, and occasionally, by the 
mercantile adventures which in these days were usual 
among men of rank and fortune. It is a curious fact, that 
he invested large sums in the purchase of lead, for the 
purpose of re-sale.* Still he was exempt, not only from 
corruption, but from selfishness ; for an avaricious man 
would have made more by his offices in seven years, than 
he made in forty ; and the splendour of his expenses was 
fully proportioned to his wealth and station.f So far, 
indeed, did he carry his disinterestedness, as never to 
raise his rents, nor displace his tenants. As the lands 
were let when he bought them, so they still remained ; and 
some of his tenants continued to enjoy, for twenty pounds 
a-year, what might have been leased for two hundred. J 

* Letter from Gilbert Talbot to the Earl of Shrewsbury, in Lodge, 
vol. ii., p. 211. 
f Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 43. X Ibid, pp. 54. 55. 

O 



194 LORD BURLEIGH. 

The magnificence of his mode of life is to be ascribed 
partly to policy, but more to the manners of the age, 
which, as we have seen in the case of the modest and un- 
ambitious More, made the expense of the great consist 
chiefly in a number of retainers. Burleigh had four places 
of residence, at each of which he maintained an establish- 
ment, his family and suite amounting to nearly a hundred 
persons. His domestic expenses at his house in London 
were calculated at forty or fifty pounds a-week when he 
was present, and about thirty in his absence ; princely 
allowances, when we consider the value of money at that 
period. His stables cost him a thousand marks a-year; 
his servants were remarked for the richness of their liveries. 
Retaining an appendage of ancient magnificence, which 
had now been given up, unless by a few noblemen of the 
first rank and fortune, he kept a regular table, with a cer- 
tain number of covers for gentlemen, and two others for 
persons of inferior condition. These, always open, were 
served alike whether he was present or absent; and in 
correspondence with this proud hospitality, he had around 
him many young persons of distinction, who acted as his 
retainers, and lived in his family. Promotion was not yet 
attainable by open competition; the house of a minister 
was the grand preparatory school; and Burleigh was, 
under Elizabeth, what Cardinal Morton had been under 
Henry VII. Among the retainers of Burleigh, there 
could, we are told, be reckoned at one time twenty young- 
gentlemen, each of whom possessed, or was likely to pos- 
sess, an income of a thousand pounds ; and among his 
household officers, there were persons who had property 
to the amount of ten thousand pounds.*' His houses were 
not large, but his equipage and furniture were splendid ; 
his plate is reported to have amounted to fourteen thousand 
pounds in weight, and about forty thousand pounds in 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 40. The writer of the treatise 
from which these particulars are taken was himself one of Lord Burgh- 
ley's retainers, and an eye-witness of all these circumstances. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 1 95 

value. His public entertainments corresponded with this 
magnificence. It was customary for Elizabeth to receive 
sumptuous entertainments from her principal nobility 
and ministers ; and, on these instances of condescension, 
Burleioh omitted nothing: which could show his sense of 
the honour conferred on him by his royal guest. Besides 
the short private visits which she often paid him, he en- 
tertained her in a formal manner twelve different times, 
w r ith festivities which lasted several weeks, and, on each 
occasion, cost him two or three thousand pounds. His 
seat at Theobald's, during her stay, exhibited a succession 
of plays, sports, and splendid devices; and here she re- 
ceived foreign ambassadors, at the expense of her trea- 
surer, in as royal state as at any of her palaces.* This 
magnificence, doubtless, acquired him a considerable 
ascendancy both at court and among the people; but it 
was attended with much envy, and often brought him 
vexation. At his death, he left, besides his plate and 
furniture, eleven thousand pounds in money, and four 
thousand pounds a-year in lands, of which he had received 
only a small portion by inheritance, f 

We come next to the interesting topic of his conduct 
towards Elizabeth, and the deportment of her majesty in 
return. He was often heard to say, that he thought there 
never was a woman so wise in all respects as Elizabeth ; 
that she knew the state of her own and foreign countries 
better than all her counsellors ; that, in the most difficult 
deliberations, she would surprise the wisest by the supe- 
riority of her expedients.^ His services, both before and 
after her elevation to the throne, were of the most im- 
portant nature ; for, besides his great qualities as a minis- 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, pp. 37, 38, 39, 40, 41. These pro- 
tracted visits of Elizabeth to her principal courtiers seem to have had 
in view economy as well as popularity. She had no objection to honour 
her subjects by her presence, and she accounted it fair that they should 
pay for this honour. 

f Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 44. J Ibid, p. 71. 

o2 



196 LORD BURLEIGH. 

ter, his vigilance had repeatedly preserved her life, while 
his fidelity had endangered his own. 

These services were sincerely felt by Elizabeth : with a 
magnanimity not always to be found among princes, she 
freely acknowledged her obligations, and demonstrated 
her gratitude by attentions which, from a sovereign, were 
the most flattering of rewards. Interesting herself in his 
domestic concerns, and entering into the joys and sorrows 
of his family, we find her at one time standing sponsor for 
one of his children, and at another hastening in person to 
inquire for his daughter in a sudden illness. In promoting 
the marriage of his son with a lady of rank and fortune, 
she also took an active part, and visited the lady in behalf 
of the suitor. Although extremely jealous of her real au- 
thority, Elizabeth had too much sense as well as policy 
to impede her service by unmeaning forms. When the 
treasurer, in the latter part of his life, was much afflicted 
with the gout, the queen always made him sit down in her 
presence with some obliging expression. " My lord," she 
would say, " we make use of you, not for your bad legs, 
but for your good head." When the severity of his illness 
rendered him unable to quit his apartment, she repaired 
thither with her council to enjoy the benefit of his advice; 
and when his disease assumed a dangerous aspect, she 
appeared in person among the anxious inquirers for his 
health. # 

Her majesty was, however, far from being always so 
accommodating ; and it often required no small degree of 
patience to bear the effects of her violent passions and un- 
reasonable caprice. The manners of that age were much 
less refined than those of the present ; yet, even then, it ap- 
peared no ordinary breach of decorum in a queen to load her 
attendants with the coarsest epithets, or to vent her indig- 
nation in blows. The style of gallantry with which she 
encouraged her courtiers to approach her, both cherished 
this overbearing temper, and made her excesses be received 
* Birch's Memoirs, vol. i., pp. 294, 128. Lloyd's State Worthies. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 197 

rather as the ill-humour of a mistress than the affronts of a 
sovereign. It was customary for her statesmen and war- 
riors to pretend, not only loyalty to her throne, but ardent 
attachment to her person ; and in some of Raleigh's let- 
ters, we find her addressed, at the age of sixty, with all 
the enthusiastic rapture of a fond lover.* To feign a dan- 
gerous distemper arising from the influence of her charms, 
was deemed an effectual passport to her favour ; and when 
she appeared displeased, the forlorn courtier took to his 
bed in a paroxysm of amorous despondency, and breathed 
out his tender melancholy in sighs and protestations. We 
find Leicester, and some other ministers, endeavouring to 
introduce one Dyer to her favour; and the means which 
they employed was, to persuade her that a consumption^ 
from which the young man had with difficulty recovered, 
was brought on by the despair with which she had inspired 
him. f Essex having, on one occasion, fallen under her 
displeasure, became exceedingly ill, and could be restored 
to health only by her sending him some broth, with kind 
wishes for his recovery. Raleigh, hearing of these atten- 
tions to his political rival, got sick in his turn, and received 
no benefit from any medicine till the same sovereign re- 
medy was applied. With courtiers who submitted to act 
the part of sensitive admirers, Elizabeth found herself 
under no restraint : she expected from them the most un- 
limited compliance, and if they proved refractory, she gave 
herself up to all the fury of passion, and loaded them with 
opprobrious epithets. 

Burleigh, by uniformly approaching her with the digni- 
fied demeanour of a grave and reserved counsellor, was 
far less liable to such indignities. Yet even on him she 
sometimes vented her chagrin ; and, in moments of sudden 
violence, seemed to forget his age, his character, and his 
station. On one occasion, when, in opposition to her wish, 

* Cayley's Life of Raleigh, pp. 127, 134. 4to. edit, 
f Letter of Gilbert Talbot to the Earl of Shrewsbury, in Lodge, 
vol. li., p. 101. 



198 LORD BURLEIGH. 

he persisted in a resolution to quit the court a few days 
for the benefit of his health, she petulantly called him a 
froward old fool : * and when he ventured, as already has 
been mentioned, to maintain some claim of the Earl of 
Essex, which she had determined to disallow, she wrath- 
fully reproached him as a miscreant and a coward who 
deserted her cause, f As he had generally to perform 
the disagreeable task of announcing to her any untoward 
accidents in the course of her affairs, he was exposed to 
the first ebullitions of her chagrin ; and so much, we are 
told, did the unprosperous event of her plans for the tran- 
quillization of Ireland, in 1594, irritate her mind, that 
she severely reproached her aged minister, even while he 
laboured under sickness. J But it was not only hasty 
bursts of passion that he had to dread : we have seen that, 
on particular occasions, she chose to execute her designs 
under a veil of consummate hypocrisy ; and made no 
scruple to shield herself from public reproach by affecting 
resentment against her ministers for the very acts which 
had given her the highest gratification. Fortunately for 
Burleigh, she found means to satisfy appearances, without 
carrying her injustice to him beyond some temporary 
indignities. 

These mortifications were aggravated by the obstinacy 
with which she occasionally opposed his designs. While 
certain counsellors, from attractions of person and man- 
ner, acquired at times an undue influence over her, some 
of her passions and prej udices were too powerful to be 
counteracted by his cool and rational suggestions ; and it 
is alleged, that she, more than once, rejected his coun- 
sels, merely to prove to him that his ascendancy over her 
was not absolute. 

The even temper of Burleigh enabled him to sutler 
many of these disgusts with apparent calmness; yet at 
times they exceeded his endurance. A very few years after 

* Birch's Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth^ vol. i., p. 448. 
f Ibid, vol. ii., p. 148. X Ibid, vol. i., p. 169. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 199 

the accession of Elizabeth, we find him already desiring 
to quit a station, in which his toil and mortification were 
so great.* As he advanced in life, his increasing bodily 
infirmities, and some domestic misfortunes which affected 
him very deeply, made such causes of chagrin more poig- 
nant ; and he frequently solicited the queen to accept of 
his resignation. But that princess, though too impetuous 
to refrain from giving offence, could not endure to be 
deprived of the zeal, industry, and wisdom, on which she 
had so long relied with the most prosperous issue; and 
his resignation was a theme to which she could never be 
brought to listen. Laying aside the stateliness of the 
queen, she undertook to alter his purpose and dispel his 
chagrin, by assuming the playfulness of the woman. 
There still remain several of her letters, in which she so 
artfully mingles strokes of gratitude and attachment with 
raillery, that it is no wonder the old statesman should 
have been moved by these indications of warm interest 
from his sovereign.^ 

The private life of Burleigh may be discussed in a short 
compass. Hurried along, from an early period of life, 
amidst affairs too complicated not to require his utmost 
industry, too important not to engage all his attention, 
he had very little leisure for domestic enjoyments. His 
hours of relaxation were few, seldom exceeding what was 
necessary for the refreshment of nature ; and if he at any 
time indulged in a greater cessation from his public labours, 
it was chiefly when his bodily infirmities demanded such 
an intermission, with a call not to be refused. 

The principal scene of his amusements was his seat at 
Theobald's, near London, whither he fled with eagerness 
to enjoy the short intervals of leisure which he could 
snatch from public affairs. In these days the buildings 
had not extended so far ; the house was surrounded with 
gardens, on which he had expended large sums of money, 

* Letter in Hardwicke's Miscellaneous State Papers, vol. i., p. 170. 
f Strvpe's Annals, vol. iv.. p. 77- 



200 LORD BURLEIGH. 

which were laid out under his own direction, with taste and 
magnificence. Here he was often seen riding up and down 
the walks on his mule, enjoying the progress of his im- 
provements, or overlooking those who amused themselves 
by shooting with arrows, or playing at bowls ; but he 
never joined in these or any other diversions. The weak- 
ness of his constitution, and more especially the distem- 
pers of his feet and legs, disqualified him for active sports, 
even if he had been led to them by inclination : but his 
mind seems to have been so thoroughly engrossed by 
important business, that he had as little relish as leisure 
for amusements ; nor did he play at any of those games 
with which the less busy endeavour to relieve the languor 
of existence.* 

His principal and favourite recreation was reading. 
Books were to him what cards are to a great portion of the 
world, — his frequent and most valued resource. They fre- 
quently interfered with the exercise necessary to his health; 
for when he got home to take a morning's ride, if he found 
a book which pleased him, he willingly postponed his 
excursion.f Nor was he insensible to the pleasures of 
domestic society and exhilarating conversation. At his 
table, in the company of a few select friends, or of his 
children and kinsmen, whom he always loved to see around 
him, he appeared to throw all his cares aside, and to yield 
himself up to unrestrained enjoyment. Whatever fatigue 
or anxiety in the course of the day his mind might have 
experienced from the pressure of public affairs, every uneasy 
circumstance seemed, at these periods, to be forgotten. 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 61. 

f Ibid, pp. 63, 64. It is curious to hear the peevishness with which 
learning is often cried down, even by those who derive from it the princi- 
pal pleasures of their life. Though Burleigh found nearly all his recrea- 
tion in books, in a letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury, he wishes that 
nobleman's son " all the good education that may be mete to teach him to 
fear God, love his natural father, and to know his friends, without any 
curiosity of human learning, which, without the fear of God, doth great hurt 
to all youth in this time and age." — Lodge, vol. ii., p. 133. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 201 

His countenance was cheerful, his conversation lively . 
and those, who saw him only in these short intervals of 
relaxation, would have imagined that pleasure was the 
business of his life. As the mildness of his demeanour 
towards all ranks, in the intercourse of public life, pro- 
cured him many friends, the frankness and familiarity 
which he displayed in his private circle gave a relish to his 
society. His conversation often sparkled with wit and 
gaiety, and his observations were generally not less plea- 
sant than shrewd. The topics discussed at his table were 
various ; literary conversation was preferred, politics were 
always avoided. # The magnificent style in which he lived, 
the number of his attendants, and the concourse of persons 
of distinction, seem, at first, adverse to the freedom of his 
social entertainments. But Burleigh was accustomed to 
live in a crowd, and few of his visitors were so exalted 
above him by rank, that he could not with grace relax 
himself in their presence. 

A share in conversation was the chief pleasure which he 
enj oyed at table ; for he was distinguished for temperance 
in an age when that virtue was not common. He ate 
sparingly, partook of few dishes, never drank above thrice 
at a meal, and very seldom of wine. Although the dinner 
hour in that age was not later than twelve or one o'clock, 
it was not uncommon with him to refrain from supper.f 
The gout, with which he was grievously tormented in the 
latter part of his life, probably contributed to render him 
more cautiously abstemious; if his temperance failed to 
banish this uneasy guest, he never at least encouraged its 
stay by rich wines and strong spices. J 

Nor was the private life of Burleigh destitute of nobler 
virtues. At a period when the poor had so few resources 
for their industry, and when many, willing to work, were 
reduced to want, a portion of his ample fortune was bene- 
volently appropriated to their necessities. His certain and 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, pp. 62, 63. f Ibid. 

X Nugse Antiquse, vol. ii., p. 82. 



20*2 LORD BURLEIGH. 

regular alms amounted to five hundred pounds a-year, 
besides farther and large disbursements on extraordinary 
occasions. Part was employed, under proper superinten- 
dence, in affording relief to poor prisoners, or in releasing 
honest debtors • the rest was confided to the management 
of certain parishes for the use of their most destitute inha- 
bitants. From the low state of husbandry at that period, 
and the very limited intercourse between nations, one bad 
season was sufficient to subject a kingdom to the miseries 
of famine • corn, in certain districts, was sold at the 
most exorbitant prices, and rendered as inaccessible to the 
poorer classes, as if none had existed in the country. In 
such times of scarcity, then of frequent occurrence and 
attended with consequences revolting to humanity, it was 
usual for Burleigh to buy up large quantities of corn, 
which he sold at low prices to the poor in the neighbour- 
hood of his different seats; and by this well-judged as- 
sistance, relieved their necessities, without relaxing their 
industry.* 

The mind of Burleigh appears to have been strongly 
tinctured with piety. Placed amidst dangers which his 
utmost vigilance could not always avoid, and from which 
he often escaped by unexpected accidents, his views were 
naturally extended to that power, on whose will depended 
the duration of his life. His faith had been endeared to 
him by persecution ; his piety was exalted by the sacrifice 
of his interest to religion. Regular in his attendance 
on public worship, and in the performance of his private 
devotions, he strove, both by example and influence, to 
inspire his family and connexions with religious senti- 
ments. During the greatest pressure of business, it was 
his custom, morning and evening, to attend prayers at the 
queen's chapel. When his increasing infirmities rendered 
him no longer able to go abroad, he caused a cushion to 
be laid by his bedside, and, on his knees, performed his 
devotions at the same regular hours. Unable at length to 
* Life of William Lord Burghley, pp. 38, 42. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 203 

kneel, or to endure the fatigue of reading, he caused the 
prayers to be read aloud to him as he lay on his bed. # " I 
will trust," he said, " no man if he be not of sound reli- 
gion ; for he that is false to God can never be true to man."f 
The strictness of his morals was in correspondence with 
his piety, and both had a powerful effect in confirming his 
fortitude in times of peril. At the awful period when 
Philip was preparing his Armada, and when the utter 
destruction of the English government was confidently 
expected abroad and greatly dreaded at home, Burleigh 
was uniformly collected and resolute ; and when the 
mighty preparations of the Spaniards were spoken of in 
his presence with apprehension, he replied with firmness, 
" They shall do no more than God will suffer them.^J 

In his intercourse with his family and dependants, this 
grave statesman was kind and condescending. In his lei- 
sure moments he delighted in sporting with his children, 
forbearing, however, such indications of intemperate fond- 
ness as might have rendered them regardless of his autho- 
rity, and ready to give the rein to their caprices. In his 
old age, no scene so much delighted him as to have 
his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren col- 
lected around his table, and testifying their happiness by 
their good humour and cheerfulness. § While his eldest 
son passed into the rank of hereditary nobility, it was to 
his second son, Robert, that Burleigh turned an anxious 
eye as the heir of his talents and influence. Nor were his 
pains fruitlessly bestowed :|| Robert displayed abilities 
worthy of his father ; and after rising, during his lifetime, 
to considerable trusts and employments in the state, suc- 
ceeded him, under James I., as prime-minister, under the 
title of Earl of Salisbury. The care with which Burleigh 
watched over the interests of this son appears from a series 

* Life of William Lord Burghlej, p. 56. f Ibid, p. 68. 

% Ibid, p. 30. § Ibid, pp. 60, 61. 

|| Bacon's Works, vol. i., p. 376. 



204 LORD BURLEIGH. 

of prudential advices, arranged in ten divisions, which he 
drew up for his use. # 

For the improvement of his children, as well as for his 
own domestic happiness, Burleigh was chiefly indebted to 
his wife, the daughter of Sir Anthony Cook, a lady highly 
distinguished for her mental accomplishments. The plan 
of female education, which the example of Sir Thomas More 
had rendered popular, continued to be pursued among the 
superior classes of the community. The learned languages, 
which, in the earlier part of Elizabeth's reign, still con- 
tained every thing elegant in literature, formed an indis- 
pensable branch of a fashionable education; and many 
young ladies of rank could not only translate the authors of 
Greece and Rome, but even compose in Greek and Latin 
with considerable elegance. Sir Anthony Cook, a man emi- 
nent for his literary acquirements, and on that account 
appointed tutor to Edward VI., bestowed the most careful 
education on his five daughters ; and all of them rewarded 
his exertions by becoming, not only proficients in litera- 
ture, but distinguished for their excellent demeanour as 
mothers of families. Lady Burleigh was adorned with 
every quality which could excite love and esteem ; and 
many instances are recorded of her piety and beneficence. 
She had accompanied her husband through all the vicissi- 
tudes of his fortunes ; and an affectionate union of forty- 
three years rendered the loss of her the severest calamity 
of his life. The despondency caused to him by this irre- 
parable calamity, produced a desire to renounce public 
business, so irksome in that state of his feelings, and to 
devote the remainder of his life to retirement and medita- 
tion. But Elizabeth was too sensible of the vast impor- 
tance of his counsels. She peremptorily rejected the re- 
signation which he tendered, yet softened her refusal with 
those arts which she knew so well to employ. 

* This tract has been transmitted to posterity; and as it affords so 
many characteristic traits of its author, it is inserted, for the information 
and entertainment of the reader, in Appendix (E). 



LORD BURLEIGH. 205 

But though Burleigh continued to apply himself with 
undiminished vigour to public business, his happiness had 
sustained a loss which nothing could repair. In his wife 
he had been deprived of a companion, whose society long 
habit had rendered essential to his enjoyment; while the 
increasing severity of the gout, with other infirmities of 
age, aggravated the distress of his mind by the pains of 
his body. By no trait had he hitherto been more remark- 
able, than by the unruffled calmness of his temper. The 
serenity of his countenance seemed to indicate a tranquil- 
lity so confirmed, as to be incapable of interruption ; and 
an eye-witness informs us that, for thirty years together, 
he was seldom seen moved with joy in prosperity, or 
with sorrow in adversity . # But in the latter years of his 
life, this consummate self-command began to forsake him. 
Business became more irksome as strength decreased, and 
the success with which his antagonists thwarted his pacific 
counsels gave him infinite pain, as they seemed likely to 
undo all the national advantages which it had been the 
labour of his life to procure. His temper now became so 
unfortunately altered, that he, who had been so eminent 
for coolness, sometimes gave way to passion, in opposi- 
tion to every dictate of discretion. f In a conversation with 
M. Fouquerolles, an envoy from Henry IV., something 
which occurred so transported him with passion, that he 
broke out into the most vehement invectives against that 
monarch. J His intercourse with his servants, which had 
been uniformly placid and cheerful, was now frequently 
interrupted by sadden bursts of peevishness : but on such 
occasions, he immediately recollected himself, appeared 
sensible of the injustice of injuring those who could not 
retaliate, and endeavoured, by assuming a peculiar com- 
placency in his words and looks, or by studiously devising 
some acts of kindness, to make reparation for the pain 
which he had unadvisedly caused.^ 

* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 43. § Ibid, p. 49. 

f Birch's Memoirs, vol. L, p. 165. J Ibid, vol. ii., p. 328. 



206 LORD BURLEIGH. 

Various indications of declining health now began to 
assail the aged statesman. Still he continued assiduous at 
his post, and laboured to rescue his countrymen from 
those delusive hopes of military glory and plunder, in 
pursuit of which they threatened to exhaust all their solid 
resources. The last public measure which he accomplished, 
was the conclusion of an advantageous treaty with Hol- 
land: and he closed his long and useful labours in the 
council, with an earnest but ineffectual effort to persuade 
them to negotiate with Spain. He died on the 4th of Au- 
gust 1598, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, having held 
the station of prime-minister of England for the long period 
of forty years, and assisted in the conduct of public affairs 
for upwards of half a century. His death-bed was sur- 
rounded by friends whom he esteemed, by children for 
whose future welfare he had provided, by servants devoted 
to him from a long interchange of good offices ; and he 
expired with the utmost serenity and composure. # 

The death of Burleigh was a cause of general sorrow. 
Elizabeth deeply lamented the loss of a minister, in whose 
exertions she had found security and success during her 
whole reign ; and the clouds which overhung the close of 
her career, must often have renewed her regret for the 
want of her wise and faithful counsellor. A minister who 
opposes the multitude in the pursuit of an object on which 
their heated imaginations have fixed, is sure, at the mo- 
ment, to be exposed to reproach. Such was the situation 
of Burleigh at the period of his death. In the face of 
popular clamour, he continued to deprecate a war which 
was no longer necessary for the public safety, and which 
wasted the wealth of the nation to gratify the pride or 
avarice of individuals. The Earl of Essex, who still stood 
at the head of his antagonists, was the idol of the people ; 
and they fondly contrasted the high spirit, the love of 
glory, the courageous sentiments of this young nobleman, 
with what they termed the cold, cautious, illiberal policy 
* Life of William Lord Burghley, p. 63. 



LORD BURLEIGH. 207 

of the aged Burleigh. Yet his death caused more regret 
than satisfaction, even among the unthinking multitude. 
They felt themselves deprived of a guardian, under whose 
vigilant protection they had long reposed and prospered ; 
and there remained no statesman of equal experience to 
guide their affairs, at a time when the decay of Elizabeth, 
and a disputed succession, threatened the nation with 
many calamities. The lapse of time has long since re- 
moved those circumstances which elevated the hopes and 
inflamed the passions of his contemporaries ; the merits of 
Burleigh have been more justly estimated; and posterity 
seems to concur in recognising him as the wisest minister 
of England. 



208 



THOMAS WENTWORTH, 

EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

In delineating the character of this statesman, the bio- 
grapher has to encounter difficulties superadded to the 
defects and obscurity of ancient records. The factions 
which agitated the contemporaries of Strafford, far from 
ceasing with the existing generation, divided posterity into 
his immoderate censurers or unqualified admirers; and 
writers, whether hostile or friendly, have confounded his 
merits and defects with those of the transactions in which 
he was engaged. Even in the present day, an undisguised 
exposure of his virtues and vices might be misconstrued 
by many into a prejudiced panegyric or an invidious cen- 
sure of the man, as well as of the cause. But it ought to 
be recollected that errors of judgment are distinct from 
depravity of moral principle ; that the vicious may often, 
from selfish motives, be led to range themselves under 
sanctified banners ; and that the virtuous, misled by false 
views, may temporarily participate in pernicious transac- 
tions. And if the partisans of either side are still too warm 
to prefer the discovery of truth to the assertion of their 
favourite opinions, let them at least be swayed by the con- 
sideration, that all characters in real life are mixed ; and 
that transcendent virtues without blemish, or an unvaried 
series of aggravated vices, are alike received with incre- 
dulity. 

Thomas Wentworth derived from his birth all the ad- 
vantages which an English commoner can enjoy. His 
father, Sir William, who continued to hold the manor of 




■// 






• uw/.w 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 209 

Wentworth, the residence of his ancestors before the 
Conquest, enjoyed one of the largest estates in Yorkshire; 
and being also connected, by intermarriages, with some of 
the most considerable families in the county, possessed 
very extensive influence. # Thomas, the eldest of twelve 
children, was born on the 13th of April 1593, in Chancery- 
lane, at the house of his maternal grandfather, a barrister 
of Lincoln's Inn.f Being destined to inherit the honours 
and estate of the family, he was early initiated in the 
accomplishments suitable to his rank, and completed his 
literary education at St. John's College, Cambridge. Of 
the plan or progress of his early studies, no particulars 
have been preserved. The writers of his memoirs, im- 
pressed chiefly by the striking transactions in which he 
was afterwards engaged, have too much neglected the 
circumstances by which his character was formed, and his 
early disposition developed. 

His proficiency at the university seems, however, to 
have impressed his friends with a favourable opinion of his 
talents ; J and the strong predilection which he afterwards 
retained for this seat of learning, proves that neither were 
his studies unacceptable to him, nor his manners and 
application unapplauded by his teachers. At a future 
period of his life, we find him patronising the cause of 
his university with much earnestness, and receiving their 
acknowledgments of his exertions. Having occasion to 
represent some misconduct of a church dignitary, who had 
been educated at Oxford, he could not help adding that 
such a divine was never produced at Cambridge. § 

From the university, Wentworth travelled abroad to 
complete his education, and spent upwards of a year in 
France. Here he had an opportunity of witnessing the 
dangerous revolutions of an arbitrary government ; Henry 

* Strafford's Letters and Dispatches, dedication. 

t Radcliffe's Essay towards the Life of Strafford, published at the con- 
clusion of Strafford's Letters and Dispatches. Folio edit. 1739. 
J Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. i. § Ibid, p. 139. 

P 



210 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

IV., the best of princes, assassinated by a fanatic; Sully, 
the most virtuous of ministers, disgraced by the intrigues 
of a court ; another daughter of Medicis at the head of the 
French councils ; and the wounds which civil discord had 
inflicted, and political wisdom begun to heal, re-opened 
by the follies and crimes of new rulers. During his resi- 
dence abroad, Wentworth had the advantage of being 
attended by a travelling tutor, distinguished equally for 
his learning and his knowledge of the world. It is to the 
honour of both, that the friendship which they contracted 
was warm and permanent. So deeply impressed was 
Wentworth with the judgment and fidelity of his tutor, 
that, while he could retain him in his family, he uniformly 
consulted him in all matters of importance ; # and when 
Mr. Greenwood at length retired to the living, with which 
he had been provided by his pupil, the latter continued 
the same expressions of confidence and regard. Many 
years afterwards, we find Wentworth recommending to his 
nephews, who were also his wards, the counsels of Mr. 
Greenwood, as their most infallible guides ; *j- and from 
this faithful friend he himself also found the most essential 
assistance in his private affairs, when his own attention 
became engrossed with the business of government. At 
the conclusion of a very long letter relative to some do- 
mestic concerns, he apologizes to Mr. Greenwood : " I 
crave," says he, " that the necessity my affairs are in may 
plead my excuse for thus unmannerly troubling of you ; 
and that, out of your charity, you would not deny your 
help to him that, upon a good occasion, would not deny 
his life to you." J 

The energy of this expression corresponded to the 
warmth of Wentworth's feelings.' The characteristic 
ardour of his affections began to be early remarked, and 
he proved no less decided in the prosecution of his en- 
mities. Habituated to the indulgences of a plentiful 

* Radcliffe's Essay. t Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 170. 

% Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 488. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 211 

fortune, and unaccustomed to opposition, he was choleric 
in the extreme, and the sudden violence of his resentment 
was apt to transport him beyond all bounds of discretion. 
Yet this fault was in a great measure atoned for by the 
manliness and candour with which it was acknowledged. 
When his friends, who perceived how detrimental it must 
prove to his future welfare, admonished him of it, their 
remonstrances were always taken in good part. He en- 
deavoured to watch more diligently his infirmity, and felt 
his attachment increase towards those who advised him 
with sincerity and freedom. Sir George Radcliffe, the 
most intimate of his friends, informs us, that he never 
gained more on his trust and affection than when he told 
him of his weaknesses. # 

On his return from abroad, Wentworth appeared at 
court, and was knighted by King James. In the reign of 
Henry VIII. , and still more of Elizabeth, this distinction 
would have been a proof of merit, or of some claim to 
the favour of the sovereign ; but their less wise, and more 
needy successor, employed his power of dispensing honours 
as a means of pecuniary supply. 

About this time Wentworth married Margaret Clifford, 
the eldest daughter of the Earl of Cumberland ; and in the 
following year he succeeded, by the death of his father, 
to a baronetcy, and an estate of six thousand pounds 
a-year: a splendid fortune at the commencement of the 
seventeenth century, even when encumbered with pro- 
visions for seven brothers and four sisters, f 

His time was now occupied with the pleasures and cares 
which attend a country gentleman of distinction ; and was 
successively devoted to the duties of hospitality, the im- 
provement of his estate, the guardianship of the younger 
branches of his family, his favourite diversion of hawking, 
his books, and his correspondents. J The death of his 
brother-in-law, Sir George Savile, who left him guardian 

* Rackliffe's Essay. f Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 484. 

X Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 2, 3, 4. Radcliffe's Essay. 

p2 



212 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

to his two sons, brought a large increase to his avocations, 
and drew forth some amiable traits of his character. Ac- 
tuated by the remembrance of his friendship with their 
father, he watched over their education and their fortunes, 
with a degree of solicitude rarely produced by the ties 
either of kindred or humanity. So zealously did he prose- 
cute a law-suit in which their estates had become involved, 
that during the long period of eight years which it con- 
tinued, he made thirty j ourneys to London on this account, 
and neglected not to attend the courts every term in which 
it came to be heard. # 

But Wentworth was not destined to pass his life in the 
obscure though honourable employments of a country 
gentleman. He seems to have quickly attracted the 
notice of his county and of government ; for he had not 
above a year enjoyed his inheritance, when he was sworn 
into the commission of peace, and nominated by Sir John 
Savile to succeed him as custos rotulorum, or keeper of the 
archives, for the West Riding of Yorkshire, an office be- 
stowed only on gentlemen of the first consideration.^- The 
resignation of Savile, although apparently voluntary, pro- 
ceeded from quarrels with his neighbours, the result of 
his restless disposition : j this had caused him to be de- 
nounced to government as a disturber of his county ;§ and 
it was the moderation of the lord chancellor, Ellesmere, 
which permitted him to save appearances by his resignation. 

Savile, however, was not of a temper to remain tranquil, 
and the successor, whom he had reluctantly nominated, 
soon became the object of his decided enmity. Having 
found means to interest in his favour William Duke of 
Buckingham, who at that period governed the councils 
of King James, he meditated a restoration to his former 
office. At his instance the duke wrote to Wentworth, in- 
forming him that the king, having again taken Sir John 
Savile into his favour, had resolved to employ him in his 

* Radeliffe. f Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 3. X Ibid, p. 2. 

§ See his letter, ibid. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 213 

service; and requesting that he would freely return the 
office of keeper of the archives to the man who had volun- 
tarily consigned it to his hands. Wentworth, instead of 
complying, exposed the misrepresentations of his antago- 
nist, showed that his resignation had been wrung from 
him by necessity, and indicated his intention of coming 
to London to make good his assertion. The duke, though 
often regardless of giving offence in the pursuit of his 
purposes, did not judge this a sufficient occasion to risk 
the displeasure of the Yorkshire gentlemen. He replied 
with much seeming cordiality, assuring Wentworth that 
his former letter proceeded entirely from misinformation, 
and that the king had consented to dispense with his 
service, only from the idea that he himself desired an 
opportunity to resign.^ This incident is remarkable, as 
having laid the first foundation of that animosity with 
Buckingham, which led the way to many questionable 
circumstances in the conduct of Wentworth. The duke 
was not of a disposition to forget even the slightest oppo- 
sition to his will ; and Wentworth was not a man to be 
injured with impunity. 

An opportunity soon occurred of retaliating the ill 
offices of Savile. A parliament having been summoned 
to meet in 1621, Went worth had so well improved his 
connexions and popularity, as to give him a confident 
hope of being returned for his county. The contests 
which, during the reign of James, had taken place be- 
tween the king and the commons, and the power which 
that house was found to possess of controlling the mea- 
sures of the crown, had now rendered a seat for a county 
a leading object of ambition. Gentlemen of the first rank 
and fortune sought, in this station, an opportunity of 
signalizing their talents and influence, or of resisting the 
dreaded encroachments of the court In the prosecution 
of this first object of his ambition, Wentworth gave indi- 
cations of that vigour and address by which he was after- 
* See both letters in Strafford's Letters, vol. L, p. 4. 



214 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

wards distinguished. In some of his letters, which still 
remain, we find him dexterously stimulating the exertions 
of his friends, or diverting the endeavours of his opponents. 
That his hopes might not be disappointed by vain profes- 
sions, he procured the petty officers of the several hundreds 
to draw out lists of such voters as positively engaged to 
appear at York, on the day of election, in support of his 
interests. # The other candidates for the county were Sir 
John Savile, and Calvert, secretary of state ; and Went- 
worth now revenged his quarrel on the former, by espousing 
the interests of the latter. Having secured his own return, 
he zealously laboured to engage the freeholders in an 
opposition to the old disturber of their county ; and, still 
apprehensive of Calvert's failure, from the extensive influ- 
ence of Savile, his ardour for the attainment of his object 
seems to have rendered him little scrupulous about the 
means. In a letter to the secretary, " I have heard," says 
he, " that when Sir Francis Darcy opposed Sir Thomas 
Lake in a matter of like nature, the lords of the council 
writ to Sir Francis to desist. I know my lord chancellor 
is much your friend in this business : a word to him, and 
such a letter would make an end of all."f 

Wentworth appeared in the house of commons at a 
period when an unusual combination of circumstances 
drew forth a display of intrepidity and eloquence. Our 
political constitution, having met with unexpected acci- 
dents which shocked and discomposed its component 
parts, exhibited effects that seemed altogether surprising, 
when their causes were not understood. Yet the order in 
which the successive incidents arose was natural, and the 
consequences scarcely avoidable. A short exposition of 
this remarkable progress will not, perhaps, be devoid of 
interest, and is essentially necessary to a proper compre- 
hension of Wentworth's principles and conduct. 

The introduction, or rather the completion of the feudal 
system, in the reign of William L, gave a considerable 
* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 8 — 11. f Ibid, p. 10. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 215 

addition to the royal authority. The proprietors of land 
were now made to acknowledge a dependence on their 
monarch ; were bound to administer specific aids to his 
revenue ; and, in their tenures, acknowledged an obliga- 
tion to follow his standard. Yet, unless within the limits 
of his own demesnes, he found his power circumscribed 
by very definite boundaries. The barons, who in these 
days formed the parliament, relinquished to the king the 
right of declaring war and concluding peace, but retained 
many privileges which rendered them an active portion of 
the government. They formed the last resort in judicial 
appeals, and possessed an indispensable voice in all laws 
affecting the nation at large. Without their consent, no 
tax beyond the aids stipulated by the feudal tenures could 
be levied on the subj ects ; and by their decision alone 
could any of their peers be deprived of his property, his 
liberty, or his life. With a precaution more to be ad- 
mired than expected in a rude age, they procured the 
signature of the sovereign to written declarations of these 
privileges ; and, by such charters, transmitted to their 
posterity a knowledge and assurance of rights, which oral 
tradition would soon have involved in doubt and per- 
plexity. Of the Great Charter, so called from its more 
complete and accurate enumeration of national privileges, 
so anxious were the frarners to diffuse the authority, that 
they caused a copy of it to be deposited in every diocese 
throughout the kingdom, and one to be transmitted to 
Ireland, for the benefit of that recent conquest. 

When the representatives of the people, in consequence 
of great improvements in the state of the middle ranks, 
afterwards became a component part of the parliament, 
they shared in the powers and privileges previously at- 
tached to that body, obtaining some peculiarly to them- 
selves, and enjoying others in common with the great 
barons. The last resort in judicial proceedings remained 
exclusively with the lords ; the first motion for granting 
contributions was appropriated by the commons; while 



216 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

the discussion and sanction of all general laws became 
equally the privilege of both. 

But these rights were not preserved and transmitted 
to posterity, without incessant precautions and repeated 
struggles. The subjects were interested in preserving un- 
diminished the power of the parliament; the king was 
prompted to gratify his ambition by the extension of his 
authority. Advanced, by the institution of feudal tenures, 
from the leader of independent chiefs, to be the sovereign 
of a great kingdom, he still found an uneasy restraint 
in the ancient privileges of his barons. To increase his 
revenue, to revenge his quarrels, to remove some ob- 
noxious opponent, he was occasionally tempted to trans- 
gress the limits which long usage or express charters had 
prescribed, and to make illegal inroads on the persons 
and property of his subjects. 

On these occasions, the barons appealed for redress to 
the same violent means by which the injuries had been 
inflicted. With arms in their hands, and an escort of 
military vassals in their train, they came to the national 
council, compelled the monarch to renounce such acts 
for the future, and obliged him to give them a written 
assurance of his good faith, either by the grant of a new 
charter, or an explicit confirmation of those already ob- 
tained. The monarch, indeed, felt little scruple in viola- 
ting promises which had been extorted from his appre- 
hensions ; and when the barons were dispersed, and their 
vassals disbanded, he too often renewed those oppressive 
acts which had roused their indignation. On such occa- 
sions, the barons had no other resource than to betake 
themselves again to arms, and to procure a new confirma- 
tion of rights, of which they found their courage the only 
effectual guardian. It was in this manner that the Great 
Charter was wrested from the fears of Kins: John : he 
had, however, no sooner ratified it, than he proceeded to 
violate its provisions, and destroy its promoters ; and its 
next confirmation was purchased by a civil war, and even 



EARL OF STRA.FFORD. 217 

by the introduction of a foreign power into the kingdom. 
Such was the apprehension infused into the barons by- 
repeated infringements that, in the course of a few reigns, 
they procured from their monarchs thirty successive rati- 
fications of the Great Charter. 

During the reigns which immediately succeeded the 
Norman conquest, the independent patrimony of the 
crown, united to the aids imposed by the military tenures, 
was sufficient to support the peace-establishment of the 
monarch, while the military services, by which all the 
lands in the kingdom were held, provided an ample re- 
source for the exigencies of war. In this state of things, 
the sovereign had no temptation, beyond the suggestions 
of unreasonable passions, to encroach on the rights of 
his subjects; nor they any means, beyond their military 
force, to secure themselves against his injustice. 

Only a few reigns, however, had elapsed, before the 
relative condition of the sovereign and the subject had 
undergone a material change. The introduction of manu- 
factures and commerce gradually presented new objects 
of desire, and led to an increased expenditure ; the rapa- 
city of courtiers, and the improvident profusion of monarchs, 
produced a rapid dilapidation of the royal demesnes. The 
system of military tenures, then the only regular resource 
for warfare, was found to include, under a formidable ap- 
pearance, a great deal of weakness and inefficiency. The 
vassals could not be dragged to the standard of their lords, 
nor the lords to the campaigns of their sovereign ; and, at 
length, it became necessary to commute their military ser- 
vices for a very inadequate contribution in money. But 
if the sovereign now felt himself straitened, even on ordi- 
nary occasions, far short did all his supplies fall of the 
resources required by the splendid ambition of succeeding 
monarchs. The subjugation of Scotland and of France, 
the magnificent enterprises of Edward I. and Edward III., 
demanded too extensive preparations to be defrayed by 
any independent revenuesappertaining to the crown. 



218 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

In these circumstances, the only resource of the mo- 
narch was to apply to the liberality of parliament, without 
whose authority he could levy no contribution on the sub- 
jects ; and that assembly, having now, in their grants, a 
forcible argument to move the sovereign, employed it to 
procure those confirmations of their rights, which they had 
formerly obtained by force of arms. The most spirited 
and ambitious monarchs, the Edwards, intent on the pro- 
secution of their warlike enterprises, made little scruple of 
purchasing supplies by the concession of statutes for the 
protection of popular rights. And so well did the parlia- 
ments employ their advantage, that, by the conclusion of 
the reign of Edward III., they had ascertained, with con- 
siderable accuracy, the limits of their own privileges and 
the king's prerogative ; and had passed those statutes for 
the protection of persons and property, which are still 
appealed to against the encroachments of arbitrary power. 

But in these rude ages, it was one thing to obtain a law, 
and another to ensure its observance. During the interval 
of his necessities, the prince was enabled to violate his 
promises, infringe the statutes, and trespass both on the 
persons and property of the subjects. Even the members 
of parliament found themselves divested of their ancient 
security. The nobles, now dissipating their revenues on 
the luxuries of the age, no longer beset the throne with 
an array of armed retainers ; and while the monarch was 
relieved from this source of apprehension, he could, with 
impunity, trample on the privileges of the commons, who 
individually possessed little influence, and, as a body, 
were held in contempt by the hereditary aristocracy. 
Sometimes he interrupted their deliberations; sometimes 
he endeavoured to extort their grants by threats, instead 
of winning them by concessions ; and at other times he took 
more severe methods with the refractory members, and 
punished their opposition to his will by fines and impri- 
sonment. 

Yet amidst these disorders, it was evident, from the 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 219 

structure of our constitution, that the question between 
the power of the sovereign and the privileges of parliament 
would, at a future period, be brought to a final decision, 
and the opposition of the one, or the encroachments of the 
other, be effectually terminated. When the people, by 
the progress of wealth and knowledge, should become too 
powerful and too high-spirited to permit the illegal treat- 
ment of their representatives, and when the monarch, by 
the progressive increase of expense, or by farther dilapi- 
dations of the royal demesnes, should find his revenues 
inadequate, the important discussion was no longer to be 
avoided. It would then become indispensable, either that 
he should submit, with good faith, to the limitations 
of his power ; or that, betaking himself to violence, he 
should break through our ancient constitution, abolish the 
privileges of parliament, and render himself the undisputed 
master of the lives and property of his subjects. 

Towards this eventful crisis affairs continued gradually 
to approach, but in their progress were accelerated or 
retarded by various accidents. During the sanguinary 
contests between the houses of York and Lancaster, the 
greatest families among the nobility had been extirpated, 
all of them had suffered in their influence, and the com- 
mons, being brought more nearly to a level with the peers, 
occupied a more conspicuous station in parliament. But 
the same causes rendered the monarchs less regardful of 
the privileges of the commons, which formerly they had 
been willing to extend as a counterbalance to the powerful 
barons ; and, at the accession of the house of Tudor, the 
parliament felt a great diminution of that authority which 
it had enjoyed a century before, Henry VII. held in his 
hand the sword of a conqueror ; and while frequent insur- 
rections gave him a plausible pretext for vengeance, it was 
not without imminent hazard that any member of parlia- 
ment could oppose his will. By the resumption of grants, 
by forfeitures, by arbitrary fines, and an economy equal 
to his rapacity, Henry had amassed treasures beyond any 



220 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

monarch of his age ; yet the progressive increase of ex- 
pense was silently producing circumstances against which 
such precautions could not long avail ; and when his ava- 
rice tempted him to make demands on his commons, their 
resistance showed him that they possessed a powerful 
check for his more indigent successors. 

From the treasures amassed by his father, Henry VIII. 
for some time supplied his profusion ; from the pillage of 
the monasteries he derived some extraordinary resources; 
and the dread of his displeasure, or a desire to promote the 
Reformation, occasionally moved the liberality of the com- 
mons. Yet at times they showed the power as well as the 
spirit to resist his demands ; and they eventually gained 
more than they suffered from his precipitate passions. At 
the commencement of his reign he received from them a 
confirmation of his title ; he delivered up to their vengeance 
the ministers of his father's extortions ; he procured their 
sanction to his innovations in religion, to his marriages, to 
his repeated alterations in the order of succession, and 
showed, that he accounted their authority sufficient to 
ratify a change of any description. At no period was the 
omnipotence of parliament a more established doctrine. 
It was not enough that More confessed its power to make 
or depose a king ; he incurred a capital sentence, because 
he would not acknowledge its right to confer a control 
over the consciences of men.* 

During the short reigns of Edward and Mary, the 
ascendancy of the parliament increased, as well as the 
difficulties of the prince. While the debts contracted by 
Henry were not liquidated by Edward, and were greatly 
augmented by Mary, the royal revenue was still farther 
impoverished by alienations of the crown lands. The de- 
termined resistance which the parliament made to the 
demands of the bigoted but odious Mary, exalted its po- 
pularity, and placed it in a still more favourable condition 
to avail itself of the distresses of the crown. 
* See the Life of More. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 221 

That conflict between the crown and the commons, which 
now seemed on the verge of commencing, was for a while 
delayed by the spirit and the prudence of Elizabeth. Her 
concurrence with the undeviating frugality of Burleigh, 
enabled her to free the crown from its overwhelming en- 
cumbrances, and to provide for more than her ordinary 
expenses in her independent resources. As she could not 
endure to have her lofty pretensions called in question, she 
never applied to her commons, unless in a case of evident 
necessity, and there were various circumstances which 
rendered them well inclined to supply her wants. The 
complaisance due to her sex, the admiration excited by her 
talents, her conspicuous economy, and her connexion with 
the dearest interests of the Protestant religion, occasion- 
ally drew from them more liberal grants than had been 
accorded to any of her predecessors. Yet even these ad- 
vantages could not prevent them from mingling a discus- 
sion of their grievances with that of her demands, or from 
uniting in their proj ects the limitation of her power with 
the relief of her wants. At times they burst forth into 
those enthusiastic pretensions of liberty, which the pro- 
gress of knowledge had now developed and enhanced. # 
Elizabeth employed all her vigour and address to repress 
this rising spirit. She answered their high claims by as- 
sumptions still more lofty ; she endeavoured to curb their 
freedom of speech by high-sounding injunctions, and even 
by imprisoning the most refractory members ; she strove to 
conceal her inability to maintain such violent stretches of 
power, by receding, as of her own free grace, while it was 
yet time; and, to display the independence of her re- 
sources, she more than once remitted the supplies which 
they had granted. Yet she precipitated the distresses of 
the crown by a large alienation of the crown lands : and she 
put a fatal weapon into the hands of the factious, by the 
unexampled act of bringing a sovereign to the scaffold. 

In the combination of circumstances which attended 
* See the speeches of Peter Wentworth in Hume, chap. xl. 



222 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

James on his accession, important discussions between the 
sovereign and the people were not long to be avoided. 
While his independent resources, from alienations and the 
increased expense of living, were scarcely sufficient for his 
ordinary occasions, his parliament was not likely to grant 
him further supplies without exacting reciprocal conces- 
sions. There were many abuses to be reformed, many 
privileges to be asserted, many branches of the preroga- 
tive to be defined. The commons now included a large 
proportion of the wealth and talents of the country : they 
were too much connected with the peers, by the ties of 
kindred and condition, to have separate interests ; and if 
parliament had shown a disposition to resist the encroach- 
ments of the most respected of their native sovereigns, it 
was not probable that they would show deference to an 
untried foreigner. 

In this conjuncture, which took place during the youth 
of Wentworth, two expedients would have been requisite 
for the prevention of civil dissensions : the limitation of the 
royal prerogative by barriers so clearly defined, as effec- 
tually to guard the subject from encroachments; and the 
separation of the king's expenditure from that of the 
public. Without the former of these provisions, it was 
in vain to expect that the commons would pay liberally 
towards a government which filled them with apprehen- 
sion. Without the latter, no concession could purchase 
security to the prerogative : every grant for national pur- 
poses would continue to be regarded as a favour to the 
monarch, and a ground for demanding a farther limitation 
of his power. But of these expedients, the separation of 
the king's expenditure from that of the nation, however 
simple and obvious it may now appear, does not seem to 
have once occurred either to the prince or the people. 

The limitation of the prerogative was a doctrine to which 
James could not endure to listen. Ignorant of the consti- 
tution of England, and in a great measure of the feelings 
of mankind, the excess of his natural timidity made him 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 223 

regard any discussion of his power with horror. Anxious 
to believe what he desired to be true, and misled by a 
crowd of flatterers, he had reasoned himself into a convic- 
tion that his power was derived from some high ordinance 
of the Divinity; that his subjects were delivered over to 
him to use according to his good pleasure ; that their rights 
were the mere gifts of his free grace ; that, by his permis- 
sion, they might lay their grievances at the foot of his 
throne, but that it was the height of impiety for them 
to resist, or even to question, the acts of one who was 
accountable to God alone. These visionary notions, the 
offspring of a weak judgment and a consummate vanity, 
James did not attempt to conceal ; he was led, by the 
same folly which engendered them, to thrust them forward 
on all occasions. Even while he held out his hand for 
supplies, he told his parliament, that, " as to dispute what 
God may do is blasphemy, but what God wills, that 
divines may lawfully and do ordinarily dispute and dis- 
cuss; so it is sedition in subjects to dispute what a king 
may do in the height of his power. But just kings will 
ever be willing to declare what they will do, if they will 
not incur the curse of God. I will not be content/' he 
continues, " that my power be disputed upon ; but I shall 
ever be willing to make the reason appear of my doings, 
and rule my actions according to my laws." # 

These maxims of arbitrary power were not merely the 
transient ebullitions of a distempered vanity : they were 
occasionally developed in practice, under very offensive 
circumstances. By a proclamation, James interfered with 
the rights of election, specified a disqualification which 
should incapacitate any member from holding his seat; 
and, placing this edict on a footing with a statute, de- 
clared every offender against it to be punishable with fine 
and imprisonment. f He interfered also with the freedom 
of debate among the commons, dissolved them in wrath 

* Hume from King James's Works, p. 531. 
f Winwood, vol. ii., pp. 18, 19. 



224 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

when they would not accede to his requisitions, and im- 
prisoned such of the members as had ventured to signalize 
themselves by opposition. Determined rather to encoun- 
ter extremities than submit to the limitation of his autho- 
rity, he is said to have soon formed the resolution of 
governing, if possible, without parliaments. # 

A rigid economy, by diminishing the amount of the ar- 
bitrary exactions now requisite, might for a season have 
lessened the public discontent. In avoiding foreign wars, 
the great source of expenditure, James, indeed, exhibited 
the utmost caution ; but so nearly was this caution allied 
to pusillanimity, that he became contemptible abroad, 
without gaining among his subjects the reputation of pru- 
dence. Their ridicule was, however, converted into indig- 
nation, when they observed that the respectability of the 
kingdom was neglected, only to procure resources for the 
miserable dissipation of a court. f His largesses to his 
servile courtiers and his needy favourites were as profuse 
as if his wealth had been immeasurable. Warrants under 
the privy seal to levy contributions from particular per- 
sons, J an arbitrary increase of the rates of customs fixed 
by law, the sale of monopolies, excessive fines in the Star- 
chamber, were the means which he employed to reple- 
nish his exhausted exchequer ; and the nation beheld the 
stretches of despotism employed for the gratification of the 
meanest corruption. § 

The open opposition of the subjects to the sovereign 
might, for some time, have been repressed by the venera- 
tion attached to the person of kings. Among our country- 
men, this sentiment had been greatly exalted by the talents, 
the vigour, the intrepidity of the race of Tudor ; and, in 
Elizabeth, they had admired a stateliness and energy, 
which seemed to exalt her above her sex, and render her 
the appropriate possessor of the diadem. But the figure, 
the manners, the disposition of James were incompatible 

* Wilson, p. 46. f Rushworth, vol.i., p. 157. X Ibid. 

§ Rushworth, vol. i., p. 157. Rapin, vol. ii., p. 185. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 225 

with sentiments of reverence. A thin person, of middle 
stature, swelled out with clothes, loosely hung around 
him and quilted to resist a dagger ; a homely countenance, 
a tongue too big for the mouth, and a correspondent utter- 
ance, were all calculated to excite ridicule.* Childish 
and often coarse in his ordinary conversation, he never 
failed to intermingle with his most dignified public exhibi- 
tions some strokes of burlesque. While he showed a piti- 
ful jealousy of men of great parts,f he chose his favourites 
for the most superficial qualifications, and submitted to 
their influence with almost implicit deference. The dis- 
creetest of his minions, whom he created Earl of Mont- 
gomery, pretended to no qualification but skill in dogs 
and horses ; J and if men were amazed to see Carre and 
Villiers, two ignorant though handsome youths, succes- 
sively invested with the supreme direction of public affairs, 
they were still more scandalized to behold the monarch 
take the birch in his hand, and act the pedagogue to his 
young minions. With a boyish familiarity, those who 
approached him were addressed by nicknames : § and if 
his foreign diplomacy brought him little honour, he was 
at least dexterous in making matches among his courtiers. 
In his conversation, the same folly was softened by an 
appearance of innocence. He swore profanely, and often 
got drunk ; and when his senses returned, he would weep 
like a child, and hope that God would not impute to him 
his infirmities. || 

The respect which James lost as a man, he might still 
have retained as the fountain of honour; and by a ju- 
dicious distribution of the ensigns of rank, might have 
surrounded his throne with an able and high-spirited 
nobility. But those distinctions, so warily bestowed by 

* Neal, vol. ii., p. 140. 

f Clarendon, Hist, of Reb. vol. i., p. 59. t Ibid. 

§ His son, the prince, he called Baby Charles ; his prime minister, 
Buckingham, he named Stenny. 
|| Neal, vol. ii., p. 140. 

Q 



226 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

the sagacious Elizabeth, were lavished by her imprudent 
successor without measure or discrimination. A needy 
and obscure minion no sooner caught his attention, than 
he was immediately raised to the highest honours ; and 
the general contempt excited by this profusion of titles 
was seen in pasquinades, purporting to be " Aids to short 
memories in recollecting the new nobility." But still more 
degrading did honorary distinctions become, when James 
affixed to them a price, and considered them as a means 
of relieving his necessities. A proportionate price was 
affixed to each rank ; and an order of hereditary knight- 
hood, under the denomination of baronets, was instituted 
to tempt the vanity of less wealthy purchasers. # So low 
was the simple title of knighthood now held in the estima- 
tion of the court, that all who possessed forty pounds a 
year were compelled, under a penalty, to receive it ; or, by 
payment of the fees, to compound for declining it.f 

Religious opinions at that period engrossed greatly the 
minds of men, and, from a skilful management of them, 
James might have derived a vast increase of influence. 
At his accession, the adherents of the established forms, 
and the abettors of a farther reformation, were competitors 
for the favour of their new monarch. From his presby- 
terian education, the latter expected at least a cessation of 
the persecution against them ; and the former would have 
been sufficiently willing to compound for their apprehen- 
sions, by this concession. But James, without skill to 
balance these factions, and without any steady principles 
in regard to either doctrine or forms, hastened to embrace 
exclusively the party which most willingly received his 
maxims of absolute power. In Scotland, a zealous pres- 
byterian, he had branded the episcopal service as " an 

* Rapin, vol. ii., p. 185. The purchase-money of an earl's patent was 
twent} T thousand pounds, of a viscount's fifteen thousand, of a baron's ten 
thousand ; while a baronetcy could be had for one thousand and ninety- 
five pounds. 

t Rapin, vol. ii., p. 185. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 227 

evil mass said in English;" and had told his parliament 
" that he minded not to bring in papistical or Anglicane 
bishops."* But he had spent only a few months in Eng- 
land, when no bishop, no king, became his current maxim, 
and to root out presbyterians and puritans his favourite 
project.-]- The leading bishops had the penetration to 
discover his weak side, and availed themselves of it with 
dexterity. They readily acknowledged whatever preten- 
sions he chose to arrogate, and were forward to maintain 
his divine right, when they found him willing to allow 
them an equally sublime origin. Nothing could be more 
gross than the flattery of several of these unworthy sons 
of the church. When James gave his sanction to that 
high commission and oath ex officio, against which we have 
seen Burleigh remonstrating, Archbishop Whitgift cried 
out in transport, " Undoubtedly your majesty speaketh by 
the special assistance of God's spirit !"J When the king 
had called before him some puritan doctors to a public 
disputation, and, to use his own phrase, " had soundly 
peppered them off," Bishop Bancroft, the first assertor of 
the divine right of episcopacy, § falling on his knees, ex- 
claimed, " My heart melteth for joy, that Almighty God, 
of his singular mercy, has j^iven us such a king, as since 
Christ's time has not been." || When James, at his table, 
proposed the question, " Whether he might not take his 
subjects' money when he needed it, without all this for- 
mality of parliament?" a complaisant bishop immediately 
replied, " God forbid that you should not : you are the 
breath of our nostrils."^ Dr. Cavel, vicar-general to the 
archbishop, wrote a book, in which he affirmed that the 
king is not bound by his laws, nor by his coronation oath; 
that he is not obliged to call parliaments to make laws, 
but may do it without them ; and that it is a great favour 
to admit the consent of the subject in giving subsidies. 

* Calderwood, pp. 256, 418. f Neal, vol. ii., p. 3. Hume, vi. p. 13* 
t Neal, vol. ii., p. 19. Kennet, p. 665. § Neal, vol. ii., p. 83. 

j| Ibid, p. 18. % Hume, vol. vi. p. 75, from preface to Waller's Works. 

Q 2 



228 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

Dr. Blackwood, another clergyman, wrote on the same 
subjects, and forgot so far what he owed to the respecta- 
bility of his profession, as to attempt to prove " that the 
English were all slaves from the Norman conquest." * 

In opposition to these doctrines, the puritans proceeded, 
with a very bad grace, to adduce those principles of go- 
vernment which they had discovered in their free investi- 
gation into civil and religious institutions. James, struck 
with the contrast, chose his party without hesitation. He 
now affirmed that presbytery, which he associated with 
puritanism, " agreed as well with monarchy, as God and 
the devil ; f and having fortified the bishops with his 
authority, proceeded to the destruction of this foe, both in 
England and Scotland. Bancroft, created archbishop as 
a reward of his services, having revived those articles of 
Whitgift which Burleigh had declared to resemble the 
Koman inquisition, J deprived by their means many cler- 
gymen of their livings. § To arm himself with still greater 
terrors, he endeavoured to wrest from the courts of West- 
minster Hall some of their undoubted rights. || The puri- 
tans laboured to procure a mitigation of their sufferings by 
a petition to the throne ; but James showed them what they 
had to expect, by sending their deputies unheard to jail.^T 

There was nothing on which James more valued himself 
than his skill in theological disputation ; and it was ac- 
knowledged that he wielded the controversial pen with far 
more address e than the imperial sceptre. But while the 
mutability of his religious tenets exposed his sincerity 
to suspicion, the severity, and even the cruelty, with 
which he maintained his successive opinions, seemed very 
inconsistent with the mild spirit of Christianity. At 
first a* zealous adherent to Calvinism, he persecuted the 

* Neal, vol. ii., p. 72. 

f Hume, vol. vi., p. 14, from Fuller's Ecclesiastical History. 
$ See life of Burleigh. 

§ Neal, vol. ii., p. 38, says three hundred; Heylyn, Aer. Rediviv. 
p. 376, makes the number, in all, only forty-five. 
II Ibid, p. 37. f Winwood's Memorials. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 229 

Arminians both at home and abroad : # but finding that 
the abettors of the latter tenets among his clergy were 
more friendly to his maxims of absolute power, he came 
over to them with all his zeal, and directed his execrations 
against the Calvinists. Legate and Wightman, two per- 
sons who held some opinions inclining to Arianism, he had 
the inhumanity to deliver over to the flames, f 

But Protestants of every denomination were alarmed 
and irritated, when they discovered that James entertained 
a decided sympathy with the Catholic worship. J That 
church, against whose abominations he had been taught to 
exclaim, he found to be a more strenuous assertor of de- 
spotic power than any Protestant community whatever. 
The pomp and splendour of her worship were exactly cal- 
culated to captivate his mind : and could he have got rid 
of the uneasy doctrine of the pope's supremacy, he declared 
himself inclined to show her votaries every indulgence. 
In his first speech to parliament, " I acknowledge," said 
he, " the church of Rome to be our mother church, though 
defiled with some infirmities and corruptions. And as I 
am no enemy to the life of a sick man because I would 
have his body purged of ill humours, no more am I an 
enemy to that church because I would have her reform her 
errors ; not wishing the downthrowing of the temple, but 

* Vorstius, a disciple of Arminius, had been chosen to succeed him as 
a professor of divinity at Leyden. James remonstrated with the States 
against this open encouragement of one whom he styled an arch-heretic a 
a pest, a monster of blasphemies ; and insisted on their joining him in an 
attempt to " send back to hell these cursed Arminian heresies that had 
newly broke forth." As to the burning of this man, he generously left 
them to their own Christian wisdom ; but added, however, " that surely 
never heretic better deserved the flames." He termed Vorstius a wicked 
atheist ; Arminius an enemy to God ; and Bertius, who had asserted that 
" the saints might fall from grace," he declared to be " worthy of the 
fire." The States contented themselves with dismissing Vorstius ; and 
Brandt, their historian, very justly holds it forth as " a very glorious 
thing for the United Provinces, that the blood of no heretic had been shed 
in that country since the Reformation." 

f Neal, vol. ii., pp. 92, 93, from Fuller, b. x. pp. 63, 64, 

X Neal, vol. ii., p. 26. Hume, vol, vi., p, 39. 



230 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

that it might be purged and cleansed from corruption.'* 
By such imprudent and explicit declarations, the Protest- 
ants were alarmed, and began to suspect their monarch of 
a design to reintroduce an abhorred superstition. 

With a like infatuation, James proceeded to disturb the 
sobriety of manners, and the religious impressions of his 
subjects. Without reference to the divine origin of the 
Sabbath, the appropriation of one day in each week for 
religious and moral instruction, for reflection on our duties, 
our errors, and the means of amendment, for reviewing our 
condition here and weighing our hopes hereafter, seems the 
wisest of institutions for the promotion of virtue and hap- 
piness. It is thus alone that the hard-wrought labourer 
finds leisure to receive instruction, or to communicate to 
his children the fruit of his experience ; while the eager 
man of business, as well as the abandoned libertine, meet- 
ing with these frequent intervals of religious worship, are 
led to think of their duties, as well as of their gains or 
their pleasures. From this spring of instruction and 
serious reflection, knowledge and good morals naturally 
flow ; and the blessings of a wise and vigorous government 
become inviolable, because they become thoroughly un- 
derstood. But James, though he could learnedly discuss 
the decrees of God, knew nothing of the moral operation 
of religion. Addicted to the pleasures of the table, and 
immersed in the dissipation of a court, he regarded the 
strict morals and serious demeanour of the puritans with 
suspicion and aversion. He determined that his subjects 
should be as gay and as voluptuous as himself; and ob- 
serving that the puritans in particular devoted the Sabbath 
to sobriety and religious exercises, he took measures to 
counteract this unwelcome example. He published " a 
declaration to encourage recreations and sports on the 
Lord's day," authorizing all games which were lawful 
through the week ; and dancing, leaping, vaulting, May- 
games, Whitsun-ales, and Morrice-dances, were recom- 
mended as proper amusements for Sunday evening. But, 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 231 

against the order which commanded this declaration to be 
read in all the churches, the more serious members of the 
establishment revolted, no less than the puritans. Arch- 
bishop Abbot, the successor of Bancroft, refused to have 
it read where he resided, and James did not venture to 
insist on compliance.* 

The number of those who desired a farther reform in 
the discipline of the church of England was now com- 
paratively small, and that of the dissenters from her 
doctrines was still smaller; yet to these two classes the 
term puritans had been hitherto confined. But James, 
having wrought himself into a thorough contempt and 
detestation of these sectaries, imagined he could not more 
effectually degrade those who opposed his arbitrary exac- 
tions, and endeavoured to set limits to his power, than by 
branding them all with the name of puritans. By this 
impolitic language, which became a fashion among the 
courtiers, the term which he employed for degradation 
became exalted. The puritans, associated under the same 
appellation with the most wealthy, enlightened, and re- 
spected classes of the community, acquired new consider- 
ation; and those who were imprudently assimilated in 
name, gradually became assimilated in opinion.^ 

Nor were these the only circumstances that produced 
unpopularity to James. The partiality displayed towards 
Scottish courtiers had made him, on his accession, be re- 
garded with an evil eye by the English. His undisguised 
aversion to his eldest son, the darling of the nation, was 
construed into an unnatural jealousy; and his apathy, on 
the premature death of this young prince, bore too striking 
a contrast to the general lamentation, j His refusal to 
interfere in the cause of his daughter, the Queen of Bohe- 

* Neal, vol. ii., pp. 174, 175. 

f Ibid, p. 123. Life of Col. Hutchinson, p. 61. 

X James not only heard of his son Prince Henry's death without dis- 
composure, but even forbade any court-mourning on the occasion. He 
is said to have been exceedingly jealous of the young prince's talents 
and popularity. 



232 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

mia, though founded on solid reasons, excited much 
censure, for men could not forgive either his indifference 
to a son-in-law, or his dereliction of a Protestant prince. # 
The jealousy of his subjects was roused when James, 
conceiving that the daughter of a powerful king was alone 
a proper match for his son, began to enter into an alliance 
and negotiation with Spain and Rome. And this inter- 
course excited the indignation of the public, when they 
saw Raleigh, celebrated for his heroism, and pitied for 
his long sufferings, dragged from his prison ; and, under 
colour of an almost obsolete sentence, sacrificed to the 
vengeance of the Spaniards.^ Such were the grievances 
of the nation at large : the aristocracy, more dangerous 
from their station and influence, were farther exasperated 
by the arrogance of the favourite, Buckingham. That 
minion, having acquired a complete ascendancy over his 
master, had assumed the complete direction of national 
affairs. According to his sovereign pleasure, measures 
were framed, negotiations conducted, ministers appointed 
or displaced; and, amidst all these abuses, he was led, 
by violence of temper, to aggravate injustice by rudeness, 
and exasperate opposition by a vindictive spirit. 

Such were the principal causes, both remote and imme- 
diate, from which the national temper had received its 
complexion, when Wentworth first appeared in parliament. 
The conduct of James, and its influence on the fate of his 
successor, bears no faint resemblance to that of Louis XV. 

* His daughter, Elizabeth, was married to the Elector Palatine, who, 
upon being raised to the throne of Bohemia by the Protestant subjects 
of that crown, which was elective, was attacked by the united force of 
the emperor and the popish electors, and stripped both of his new king- 
dom and his hereditary dominions. James, much to the general discon- 
tent, beheld in tranquillity a catastrophe which, indeed, he could not 
probably have averted. It is from this branch of the royal stock that 
our present monarch is descended. 

f Raleigh was confined during eighteen years for a very dubious 
charge of conspiracy ; and was at length, on this obsolete accusation, put 
to death, at the instance of the Spaniards, whom he had offended by 
some attacks on their South American settlements. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 233 

of France. Ten years had elapsed since the houses were 
last assembled ; and, in that long interval, James had ex- 
hausted every expedient which he durst hazard, to procure 
supplies without their intervention. But as his necessities 
had multiplied beyond his resources, he was at length 
driven to solicit from parliament what he had in vain at- 
tempted to derive from his prerogative. The recovery of 
the Palatinate, a favourite enterprise with the nation, he 
laid hold of as the pretext for his demands ; and endea- 
voured to soothe the angry recollections of the members, 
by ample apologies for his late errors.* These pretences, 
and these apologies, the commons appeared to take in 
good part. Consisting of men whose independence, sup- 
ported by large fortunes and extensive influence, had 
acquired strength from living at a distance from court, 
amidst their tenants and connexions, they felt their own 
importance, and proceeded in their objects without vio- 
lence or precipitation. They perceived the advantage 
which they possessed in holding the purse-strings of the 
nation ; and resolved to avail themselves deliberately of 
this single, but insurmountable check, in restraining the 
excesses of arbitrary authority. 

Of the doubtful sincerity of James, in his professions of 
a tender regard for their liberties, and of an anxiety to 

* For the recovery of the Palatinate, which he never attempted, un- 
less by some fruitless negotiations, he pledged himself with an unusual 
vehemence of language. He told the parliament that he should render 
his persuasions effectual by the strong hand of an army ; and, added he, 
" I will engage my crown, my blood, and my soul, in the recovery." 
His excuses for past faults, if not conveyed with much dignity, possessed 
at least a blunt frankness not ill calculated to disarm resentment. " I 
confess," said he, " I have been liberal in my grants ; but, if I be in- 
formed, T will amend all hurtful grievances. But who shall hasten after 
grievances, and desire to make himself popular, he hath the spirit of 
Satan. If I may know my errors, I will reform them. I was, in my 
first parliament, a novice ; and in my last, there was a kind of beasts 
called Undertakers, a dozen of whom undertook to govern the last parlia- 
ment, and they led me." — See his speech in Rushworth's Collections, vol. 
i., pp. 22, 23. The speech is somewhat differently given by Franklyn, 
but more as to the form of expression than the import. 



234 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

remedy abuses, they could not fail to be aware. Even in 
the interval betwixt issuing the writs for parliament and 
its opening, he had endeavoured to suppress all liberty of 
writing or speech concerning public affairs by a proclama- 
tion, in which he " commanded all, from the highest to 
the lowest, not to intermeddle, by pen or speech, with 
state-concernments and secrets of empire, either at home 
or abroad, which were no fit themes for vulgar persons, 
or common meetings. " # Yet the commons, overlooking 
this significant indication, sought to conciliate his good 
will, by making the supply of his necessities the first of 
their measures. Contrary to the usual course of pro- 
cedure, they voted him two subsidies at the very com- 
mencement of their session; and when they afterwards 
proceeded to inquire into grievances, they allowed not a 
murmur of disrespect towards the king or his ministers, 
and touched only on such glaring abuses as were dis- 
avowed and given up by the court. f So liberal and mo- 
derate did this conduct appear, as to draw forth the public 
acknowledgments of the king : — " The house of commons 
at this time," says he, in a speech to parliament, " have 
showed greater love, and used me with more respect in all 
their proceedings, than ever any house of commons have 
hitherto done to me or, I think, to any of my prede- 
cessors. "J 

This happy understanding seemed to promise the most 
fortunate effects ; but James, having procured the relief of 
his present necessities, began, with a more scrupulous eye, 
to look after his prerogative. The abuses which the com- 
mons had undertaken to investigate, he did not propose to 
defend ; but he disliked that they should acquire, in the 
eyes of the people, the merit of the abolition, and appear 
the reformers of excesses which he had tolerated. He 
therefore surprised the commons, in the midst of their 
labours, by announcing an intended prorogation, reproved 
their petition for a prolongation of their sitting, as a farther 

* Rush worth, vol. i., p. 21. f Ibid, p. 24. J Ibid, p. 25. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 235 

encroachment on his prerogative ; and taught them, by 
this precipitate jealousy, to be less forward in their grants, 
till they had first secured the desired concessions.* 

Before the term to which he had prorogued parliament, 
James was overtaken by his necessities, and found it ex- 
pedient to reassemble the houses three months earlier than 
he once intended. f Unfortunately his measures, during 
the recess, were ill calculated to allay their irritation. He 
had indeed reformed most of the abuses which had excited 
complaint ; but he had been careful to insert in the procla- 
mation, that " he needed not the assistance of parliament 
to reform them.";}; In a new edict against political wri- 
tings and conversation, he had carried his encroachments 
on freedom a step farther, and threatened severity " as 
well against the concealers of such discourses, as against 
the boldness of audacious tongues and pens."§ In the 
progress of the Spanish match, new concessions, it was 
apprehended, had been made in favour of the Catholics ; 
and, amidst the feeble remonstrances of James, the Elector 
Palatine had been finally stript of his dominions. While 
the Popish princes of Spain, France, and Germany, were 
proceeding, with a high hand to exterminate Protestantism, 
the English began to tremble anew for their religion, and 
to look with jealousy and resentment on their monarch, 
who so closely confederated with its enemies. James had 
even had the imprudence to infringe the most indispensable 
privileges of the commons, and had resented their displea- 
sure at the prorogation, by committing to prison Sir Edwin 
Sandys, one of their most popular members. 

It was in vain that, after their late experience, James 
now endeavoured to draw from them speedy supplies, by 
representing the immediate exigencies of the Palatinate, 
;and by assuring them that they should afterwards be per- 
mitted to continue their sittings " as long as the necessity 
of the state should require." | The commons replied by a 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 35. t Ibid, p. 39. J Ibid, p. 3G. 

§ Ibid, p. 36. || Ibid, p. 39. 



236 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

petition and remonstrance, in which they stated what they 
conceived to be the most imminent dangers of the nation, 
and the most expedient remedies. To remove the pressing 
apprehensions of popery, they recommended that the penal 
laws against the Catholics should be strictly executed, the 
Spanish match broken off, the prince espoused to one of 
his own religion, and war immediately declared against all 
powers concerned in the spoliation of the Palatinate. To 
show their intention to grant supplies, as well as their ex- 
pectation of concessions in return, they said they had 
already resolved to give, at the end of this session, one 
entire subsidy, for the sole purpose of relieving the Palati- 
nate; and humbly besought his majesty, that " he would 
then also vouchsafe to give life, by his royal assent, to 
such bills as, before that time, should be prepared for his 
majesty's honour, and the good of the people. " # 

The intention of presenting this petition was no sooner 
reported to James, than, indignant that they should pre- 
sume to interfere with matters appertaining to his crafty as 
he usually termed it, he wrote to the speaker, intimating 
his displeasure that the commons should venture " to argue 
and debate publicly of matters far above their reach and 
capacity, to his high dishonour, and breach of prerogative 
royal." He commanded them to abstain, for the future, 
from all such discussions ; and that they might not be 
ignorant of his resolution to enforce obedience, he desired 
the speaker to inform them, in his name, " that he thought 
himself very free and able to punish any man's misde- 
meanours in parliament, as well during their sitting as 
after ; which he meant not thenceforth to spare, upon any 
occasion of any man's insolent behaviour."f 

To acquiesce in this formidable assumption, would have 
been to renounce all their privileges, and annihilate their 
utility. They drew up a new petition, equally firm and 
moderate, defending the tenour of their former remon- 
strance, and asserting that their freedom of debate, a 
* Rush worth, vol. i., pp. 40, 41, 42. f Ibid, pp. 43, 44. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 237 

privilege altogether indispensable, was " their ancient and 
undoubted right, an inheritance received from their ances- 
tors, and often confirmed by his majesty's own speeches 
and messages."* 

The reply of James was no less explicit and peremptory 
than his letter to the speaker. He compared their auda- 
cious interposition in affairs of state, when called on for 
supplies, to the presumption of a merchant who should 
imagine that his advance of a loan for carrying on a war 
entitled him to dictate its operations. He reminded them 
that he was an old and experienced king, who needed none 
of their lessons ; and advised them, in their deliberations, 
to recollect the old maxim, that no man should pretend 
beyond his own craft.f As to his son's match, " he desired 
to know how they could have presumed to determine in 
that point, without committing high treason ? " Their 
claims, as an ancient and undoubted right and inheritance, 
he could not allow; but accounted it a more proper style, 
" that their privileges were derived from his grace, and the 
permission of him and his ancestors." He, however, as- 
sured them that they had nothing to dread, if they took 
care not " to trench on his prerogative; " which, added he, 
" would enforce us, or any j ust king, to retrench of their 
privileges, them that would pare his prerogative and the 
flowers of his crown." J 

These pretensions and threats produced much agitation 
among the commons, and a few days afterwards, a com- 
mission for their adjournment to the eighth of February 
was lodged in the hands of the clerk. Apprehensive of a 
dissolution, they proceeded without delay to vindicate, in 
a protestation, their parliamentary rights and privileges. 
Here their claims to freedom of speech, their inviolability 
for all proceedings in parliament, and their title to debate 
and counsel on all affairs of state, were asserted in lan- 
guage remarkable for its vigour, temperance, and decision. § 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 46. 

f Ne sutor ultra crepidam, was the literal expression of the king. 

t Rushworth, vol, i„ pp. 46 to 52. § Ibid, pp. 52, 53. 



238 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

Enraged at this new trespass of the commons, James 
commanded their journal-book to be brought to him in 
council ; tore out, with his own hand, the leaf which con- 
tained the protestation ; and, by a speedy dissolution of 
parliament, proved his determination to set their preten- 
sions at defiance. To intimidate them more effectually, 
he laid his hands on the more active members : some he 
imprisoned, and others he exiled, under pretence of public 
employments, to Ireland. To silence the general murmurs, 
he enforced his former proclamations against speaking of 
state affairs ; and commanded the judges, in their several 
circuits, to do exemplary justice on all such offenders. * 

The part which Wentworth acted, during the two ses- 
sions of this parliament, was conspicuous chiefly for its 
circumspection and moderation. We indeed find him 
active in promoting the expulsion of a member, who had 
spoken with much irreverence of a bill for repressing those 
licentious sports on the Sabbath, which the royal procla- 
mation had authorized and encouraged ; and when the 
king hazarded the assertion that the privileges of the 
commons were enjoyed by his permission, and their de- 
liberations controllable by his authority, Wentworth urged 
the house to declare explicitly that their privileges were 
their right and inheritance, and the direction of their pro- 
ceedings subject to no cognizance but their own. The 
abrupt dissolution of parliament, he followed with expres- 
sions of regret and apprehension.f Yet his language to- 
wards the court was always respectful, and his eloquence 
more frequently employed to moderate than excite the zeal 
of his colleagues. Connected intimately with some mem- 
bers of the administration, and holding an office which, 
though inconsiderable, might to lead others of more impor- 
tance, he seems to have been more solicitous to avoid 
unacceptable conduct, than to obtain distinction from his 
opposition. The favour which he found means to acquire 
with James, was afterwards his frequent boast.J 

* Rushworth, vol. i,, p. 55. f Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 15. 

X Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pp. 35, 36. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 239 

From the mutual animosity with which the king and the 
parliament had separated, it was not to be expected that 
James would have a speedy recourse to this national coun- 
cil. Yet, within two years after the angry dissolution, 
writs were issued for a new parliament ; and that body as- 
sembled to hear language of unusual concession from the 
throne. Changes that had occurred in the interval, and 
the all-powerful ascendancy of Buckingham, produced 
this altered tone. That favourite had perceived the neces- 
sity of ingratiating himself with the prince, who was soon 
to mount the throne; and the repeated delays of the 
Spanish match seemed to afford him a favourable opportu- 
tunity. He artfully represented to Charles the advantage 
which he would derive from visiting Spain in person, — the 
delays of the match would be forthwith removed ; the 
generosity of the Spaniards engaged by his confidence in 
their honour ; and the affections of his mistress awakened 
by his courage and unparalleled gallantry. Having, by 
these arts, rendered the prince impatient for the enterprise, 
he succeeded in extorting from the feebleness of James a 
reluctant consent to a project, which so manifestly en- 
dangered the life or liberty of the heir-apparent. Charles 
and Buckingham, accompanied by only two attendants, 
now proceeded on their romantic journey; and having 
passed undiscovered through France, arrived in safety at 
Madrid. The Spaniards, charmed with the gallantry and 
confidence of the prince, received him with distinguished 
honours; and, delighted to discover in his manners a 
stayed, serious, dignified deportment, so congenial to their 
own, they beheld him with impressions daily more favour- 
able. But in Buckingham they saw a very different 
character : his gay, volatile demeanour, his unreserved 
familiarity with the prince, and the undisguised impetu- 
osity of his passions, were all occasions of disgust to the 
Spaniards. These sentiments were fully returned by Buck- 
ingham. Insulting their customs without scruple, he had 
even the temerity to engage in a personal quarrel with the 



240 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

reigning favourite of the Spanish court ; and returned to 
England with a decided determination to break off the 
match, and involve the nations in hostility.* 

The preservation of peace, and the marriage of his son 
with a daughter of Spain, had long been the pride of 
James, the darling object of his cares. But Buckingham 
too well knew the weakness of the monarch to be deterred 
by these obstacles ; and, assisted by the endeavours of the 
prince, over whom he had, during the journey, acquired 
an unlimited ascendancy, he obliged the reluctant king 
to terminate the negotiations, and attempt the recovery of 
the Palatinate from Spain and her allies by force of arms. 
But the royal coffers furnished no resources for war : the 
arbitrary exactions, imposed by royal authority, supplied 
only the immediate necessities of the court ; and a parlia- 
ment, however hateful, was the only resort. The courtiers, 
taking their tone from Buckingham, now seemed to have 
forgot their tender apprehensions for the prerogative : and 
advised their sovereign " to cast some crumbs of his crown 
among the people, and those crumbs would work miracles, 
and satisfy many thousands. "f The king, yielding to the 
irresistible control of his favourite, began to hold the same 
language; and he who had threatened and dissolved a 
parliament, for presuming to discuss affairs of state, now 
assembled them by his writs, " to advise with him in 
matters concerning his estate and dignity. "J His speeches 
were conceived in a similar strain. He could not help 
reminding them that his condescending to ask their advice 
was entirely gratuitous ; yet he called on them to deli- 
berate freely on the present weighty affairs. Touching 
shortly, though feelingly, on his own necessities, he 
strongly urged them to provide adequate resources for the 
war; and, that no suspicion might be entertained of his 
diverting the supplies to other purposes, he offered to 
commit the receipt as well as the issue to themselves.^ 

* Clarendon's Hist, of the Rebellion, edit. 1720, vol. i.,pp. 11 to 18. 
t Rushworth, vol.i., p. 115. + Ibid. § Ibid, pp. 130, 131. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 241 

Parliament had many reasons, besides this unusual 
complaisance, to lend a favourable ear to the demands of 
their monarch. If the people had viewed the project of 
the Spanish match with apprehension, their fears were 
increased tenfold when they saw their prince voluntarily 
consign himself into the hands of that suspected nation. 
Even should his life and freedom be spared, they trembled 
lest their future sovereign should fall a prey to the arts of 
the Catholics, and become the enemy and persecutor of 
their religion. The return of the prince in safety, and still 
a Protestant, was hailed with universal acclamations ; and 
the public j oy was raised to its height, by the announced 
rupture of the Spanish match, and a war for the recovery 
of the Palatinate. Parliament, partaking in the general 
exultation, proceeded to show their good-will by imme- 
diately voting three subsidies and three fifteenths, to be 
levied within a year after the declaration of war. Yet, 
mindful of the former proceedings of the court, they ac- 
cepted the king's offer to entrust the receipt and disburse- 
ment of the supplies to a committee of their own members. # 
And though they expressed, in strong terms, their gratitude 

* The commons as well as the king, seem to have regarded this as an act 
of extraordinary concession ; yet it merely invested the committee with 
a power to see that the money was applied only to the purposes of the war 
for which it was raised. The direction of the warlike operations, as well 
as of the objects for which the particular disbursements were to be made, 
the king reserved entirely to himself, and had recourse to the committee 
only as his treasurers. — Rushworth, vol. i., p. 140. In this measure, we 
find an undesigned approximation to that expedient, so essential for the 
prevention of jealousies and quarrels between the sovereign and the peo- 
ple, — the separation of the king's private expenses from those of the 
nation. It seems strange how Mr. Hume should have been led to repre- 
sent this transaction as " an imprudent concession, of which the conse- 
quences might have proved fatal to royal authority." — Chapter xlix. 
From some other expressions in the same passage, he appears to have 
conceived that the committee were to determine the objects to which the 
money should be applied, as well as to superintend its receipt and dis- 
bursement. This power is now much more completely possessed by the 
house of commons, who have annually laid before them a detailed account 
of the national receipt and expenditure. 

R 



242 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

for his majesty's conciliating language, they ungraciously 
overlooked the subject of his private necessities. After the 
investigation of a few abuses, and the transaction of some 
unimportant affairs, the houses were adjourned without 
any symptoms of interrupted harmony. # 

During this session, in which Buckingham bore un- 
bounded sway, Wentworth seems to have refrained from 
any particular activity. Previous to the assembling of 
parliament, he expresses, in a letter to his brother-in-law, 
Lord Clifford, his slender hopes from a display of parlia- 
mentary talents, and the necessity of caution and reserve. 
" My opinion of these meetings, your lordship knows 
sufficiently well ; how services done there are coldly re- 
quited on all sides, and, which is worse, many times 
misconstrued. I judge, farther, the path we are like to 
walk in is now more narrow and slippery than formerly ? 
yet not so difficult but may be passed with circumspection, 
patience, and, principally, silence. "-f- From the discourses 
of James, as well as the delays which he interposed, Went- 
worth distinctly perceived the monarch's aversion to the 
Spanish war ; and augured, that he would one day seize an 
opportunity to discover his resentment against those who 
had dragged him into hostilities.}: 

As yet, Wentworth looked with apparent calmness on 
the agitations of political ambition, and discovered a mind 
capable of enjoying the tranquil dignity of an independent 
fortune. By one of those pestilential fevers, which, from 
the closeness and filthiness of the streets, formerly ravaged 
London, he had lost his wife, and suffered much in his own 
constitution. A tertian ague, which succeeded the fever, 
and which frequently recurred during the interval between 
the two parliaments, had obliged him to seek again for 
health in the free air and vigorous amusements of the 
country. Here his retirement was of considerable du- 
ration ; and, in the life of a man in general so beset with 

* Rushworth. vol. i., pp. 136, 147. 

t Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 19. t Ibid, p. 20. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 243 

care, and so anxiously devoted to the pursuit of ambition, 
it is pleasant to dwell on an interval of philosophic tran- 
quillity. His letters to his friends in London discover no 
symptoms of a yearning ambition, endeavouring to hide 
itself under the veil of an affected philosophy. Uncon- 
strained and sportive, they appear the effusions of a mind 
which entered fully into those temperate enjoyments. To 
Secretary Calvert, an intimate friend and correspondent, 
he writes thus : — 

" Matters worthy your trouble these parts afford none, 
where our objects and thoughts are limited to looking on 
a tulip, hearing a bird sing, a rivulet murmuring, or some 
such petty but innocent pastime ; which, for my part, I 
begin to feed myself in, having, I praise God, recovered 
more in a day by open country air, than in a fortnight's 
time in that smothering one of London. By my troth, I 
wish you, divested of the importunity of business, here for 
half a dozen hours ; you should taste how free and fresh 
we breathe, and how procul metu fruimur modestis opibus ; 
a wanting sometimes denied to persons of greater eminency 
in the administration of commonwealths."* 

In another letter to Mr. Calvert, he takes occasion to 
say, that he had written some news of state affairs to his 
cousin Wandesford, who was interested in such things; 
but to you, continues he, I have very different matters to 
relate ; " that our harvest is all in, a most fine season to 
make fish-ponds, our plums all gone and past, peaches, 
quinces, and grapes almost fully ripe ; which will, I trow, 
better suit with a Thistleworthf palate, and approve how 
we have the skill to serve every man in his cue. These 
only we countrymen muse of, hoping, in such harmless 
retirements, for a just defence from the higher powers, 
and possessing ourselves in contentment, pray, with 
Driope in the poet, — 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 16. 
f Secretary Calvert's country seat. 
R 2 



244 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

" Et siqua est pietas, ab acutae vulnere falcis, 
Et pecoris morsu frondes defendite nostras."* 

At this, as at other periods of his life, Wentworth was 
strongly alive to the calls of duty. In various letters, we 
discover his anxious solicitude to promote the improve- 
ment of his numerous brothers, and to provide them with 
suitable appointments. f Of the attention and good sense 
with which he guided their inexperience, we have an 
example in his advices to his brother Michael, who had 
chosen the army for his profession, and was now making 
a campaign in Germany. After several admonitions to 
aim at excellence in his profession, by an assiduous em- 
ployment of his time, by a diligent observation of the 
transactions around him, by aiding his memory with a 
regular journal of all remarkable incidents which con- 
tributed either to success or defeat, he endeavours to 
repress the ardour and indiscretion of early years. He 
advises him to go on with the sober, stayed courage of an 
understanding man, rather than with the rash and distem- 
pered heat of an unadvised youth ; and warns him, that 
the man who ventures himself desperately, will, even by 
the wise, be deemed unfit for command, since he exercises 
none over his own unruly and misleading passions. J 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 24. In his letters at this period, 
Wentworth occasionally amuses himself with the follies of the king and 
the courtiers. He informs Secretary Calvert, that he at length had 
news for him from the court at Rufford, whither James, who was passion- 
ately addicted to hunting, had retired to enjoy this amusement. " The 
loss of a stag, and the hounds hunting foxes instead of a deer, put the 
king your master into a marvellous chaff, accompanied with those ordi- 
nary symptoms better known to you courtiers, I conceive, than to us 
rural swains ; in the height whereof comes a clown galloping and staring 
full in his face : — His blood ! (quoth he,) am I come forty miles to see a 
fellow ? and presently, in a great rage, turns about his horse, and away 
he goes faster than he came. This address caused his majesty and all 
the company to burst into a vehement laughter, and so the fume of the 
time was happily dispersed." — Strafford's Letters, p. 23. It does no 
little credit to James's good-humour, that he could so heartily join in the 
laugh at this whimsical, but very direct satire on his personal appearance. 

f Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 14, 16, 18. % Ibid, p. 18. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 245 

From pleasures so serene, and from duties so com- 
mendable, Wentworth was called, by the incidents of a 
new reign, to scenes more active, and transactions more 
questionable. The previous conduct of Charles, who now 
ascended the throne, had produced a very favourable im- 
pression of his character. The strictness of his morals, 
the reserve of his conversation, the dignity of his external 
deportment, were advantageously contrasted with the dis- 
sipation, the loquacity, and awkward demeanour of his 
father. Of the favourable disposition of the public, he 
had received the most indubitable indications. On his 
return from Spain, he had been welcomed with loud and 
cordial demonstrations of j oy ; and from his participation 
in the rupture with that crown, and the war for the re- 
covery of the Palatinate, he had derived new accessions 
of popularity. It was therefore with confidence, as far 
as regarded himself, that he convoked a parliament on 
his accession, and requested immediate supplies. But 
however acceptable might be the alleged occasion, (the 
prosecution of the war for the Palatinate,) there were 
certain circumstances that rendered parliament backward 
in their grants. 

King James had promised that vigorous measures should 
be taken for asserting the rights of his son-in-law; yet 
nothing had been effected. A considerable army had, 
indeed, been raised and despatched on board of transports ; 
but no proper measures having been taken for their dis- 
embarkation, they were so long delayed at the ports of 
France and Holland, to which they sailed, that, partly 
from want of provisions, partly from a contagious dis- 
temper which had crept in among men so long crowded 
up in narrow vessels, scarcely a third of the original num- 
ber came to land ; and with this slender and dispirited 
force, no offensive operations could be attempted. # The 
naval preparations of James had also been very tardy ; 
and, instead of adventurers being enriched by captures 
* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 154. 



246 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 



from the Spaniards, our merchantmen, now increased in 
number, became too often a prey to our enemies. * " It 
represents unto me," says Wentworth on this occasion, 
" the sport of whipping the blind bear, where they lash, 
and that roundly too, on all hands ; and yet the smart and 
blows given so distract the poor creature, as she knows 
not where to take her revenge. "f 

The nation was likewise agitated by an alarm of popery. 
The rupture of the Spanish negotiations, and a promise of 
James to enforce the penal laws against recusants, had at 
one time allayed the public apprehension, and diffused 
the greatest satisfaction. It was in reference to this pro- 
mise that Wentworth, in a letter to a friend, dropt an ex- 
pression highly expressive of the national dread of popery. 
" I hope in God we shall once again put a ring in the 
nose of that leviathan, and bend and turn him to the 
safety of the state, and advancement of the cause of our 
most just and gracious God. "J Such were also the hopes 
of the nation ; but the vanity of James soon disappointed 
them, and Excited anew the fears for the Protestant faith. 
After the match with Spain was broken off, a daughter of 
France seemed to him the only consort worthy of his son ; 
and negotiations for this purpose were immediately com- 
menced. The French court had viewed with fearful pre- 
sages the alliance of England with the Spaniards, and 
received with joy an overture which promised to engage 
her permanently in their interests; but as James could 
not conceal his eagerness for the conclusion, they took 
advantage of his weakness to obtain their own conditions. 
All the invidious concessions in favour of popery which 
had been claimed by the Spaniards, were now yielded to 
the French ; and experience has shown that the apprehen- 
sions of the English nation were not groundless, when, by 
a fatal act of compliance, the education of the royal off- 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 22. 

f Wentworth to Wandesford, Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 22. 

X Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 22. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 247 

spring, till their thirteenth year, was confided to their 
popish mother.* 

These, indeed, were the transactions of James; but 
Charles had subscribed to all the concessions in favour of 
popery, and betrayed no less eagerness for the match than 
his father. Its completion was the first important act of 
his reign ; and the meeting of parliament was delayed till 
the young queen had been received in England. From 
these circumstances, a suspicion arose that the court, 
aware of the evil eye with which this alliance was regarded, 
had anticipated remonstrances from parliament, and, to 
prevent them, had hastened the conclusion of the treaty : 
nor was it unforeseen that this conduct would affect the 
question of supplies. Wentworth, after alluding to the 
state of public opinion, speaks ironically of the match to 
his friend Calvert : " For my part I like it well, and con- 
ceive the bargain wholesome on our side, that we save 
three other subsidies and fifteenths. Less could not have 
been demanded for the dissolving of this treaty, and still 
the king your master have pretended to suffer loss, no 
doubt for our sake only, which certainly we should have 
believed, "-j- 

The conduct of Charles, in respect to this match, having 
impressed the nation with a suspicion of his attachment 
to popery, he found it expedient, in his first speech to 
parliament, to repel the allegation. J Nor were there 
wanting other circumstances to diminish his late popu- 
larity. In retaining all the ministers of his father, he 
seemed to give a pledge that he would follow the same 
counsels ; and from the resignation with which he submit- 
ted to the dictates of Buckingham, there remained no 
hope of a diminution of that insolent minion's authority. 
The popularity of the duke, during the last session of par- 
liament, had already vanished. It was now recollected, 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 152. 

f Wentworth to Calvert, Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 24. 

X Rushworth, vol. i., p. 172. 



248 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 



that, if he had brought back the prince safe, it was he 
who had carried him thither ; that, if he had assisted to 
break off the Spanish match, he had zealously promoted 
the French ; # and that many glaring abuses could be dis- 
tinctly traced to his influence. If the caution with which 
Charles concealed his political principles, during the life- 
time of his father, had bred an opinion of his prudence, it 
had also engendered some suspicion of his candour. And 
though, while prince, he had displayed no extravagance 
in his expenses, the profusion with which, on his accession, 
he had scattered among those around him the remains of 
the treasury, rendered it doubtful how far his frugality 
could resist the solicitation of courtiers. f 

Influenced by these circumstances, the commons, in 
their first deliberations, discovered a disposition to treat of 
grievances as well as supplies. As the first fruits of their 
affection, however, they immediately presented his ma- 
jesty with two subsidies, reserving their further liberality 
till some prominent abuses were investigated.^ But a 
pestilential distemper, which extended its ravages over 
London, quickly interrupted their labours, and obliged the 
king to adjourn the session to Oxford. § 

Here, after a short recess, they assembled with disposi- 
tions by no means more favourable to the views of the 
court. During their previous meeting, Charles had excited 
some disgust by opposing his prerogative to their discus- 
sions ; and by prohibiting their prosecution of one Mon- 
tague, his chaplain, who had written a book which they 
construed into an encouragement of popery. || But this 
cause of offence was slight, when compared to the intelli- 
gence which now transpired, that the king had enabled the 
French court, by the assistance of some ships, to destroy 
the Protestant fleet of Rochelle, and lay siege to that town, 

* Rush worth, vol. i., p. 470. 

f Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, vol. i, pp. 4, 24, 25. May's 
History of the Parliament, pp. 6, 7, edit. 1647. 
t Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 173, 174. § Ibid, p. 174. [| Ibid. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 249 

the last refuge of the Hugonots. In the ruin of these 
Protestants, whom Elizabeth had cherished, whom sound 
policy as well as religion seemed to call' on England to 
support, they saw grounds for the most gloomy apprehen- 
sions ; and Buckingham, whose supreme authority pointed 
him out as the author of these measures, became the 
marked object of their displeasure.* 

The commons were now far more disposed to investigate 
grievances than to vote subsidies. It was in vain that the 
court urged the necessities of the state, and the impossi- 
bility of continuing active hostilities without farther sup- 
plies. The commons seemed determined to inquire how 
their former grants had been applied ; to obtain, in return 
for their concessions, the reform of various abuses ; and 
to bring to light the authors of the public misfortunes. 
Their censures now pointed very directly at the Duke of 
Buckingham ; when that favourite, apprehensive for his 
safety, induced the king to interrupt the proceedings of 
parliament by an abrupt dissolution.^ 

During these transactions, Wentworth took his station 
among the most conspicuous patriots. No change had 
taken place in the measures of the new reign ; there had 
appeared no inclination to abate the claims of the prero- 
gative ; the insolent Buckingham still distributed the fa- 
vours, as well as the frowns of the court. The virtuous, 
the moderate, the ambitious, were all equally interested 
to ameliorate this state of affairs. Wentworth had now 
reached his thirty-third year, and had attracted the atten- 
tion of both parties. His connexions were considerable, 
his talents were much respected, 'his vigour and decision 
gave him forcible claims to attention. Ready in conception 
and pointed in expression, his eloquence imparted a lustre 
to his sentiments, and procured for his knowledge even 
more than adequate estimation.^ His acquirements had 

* Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 175, 176. Whitlocke's Memorials, pp. 1, 2. 
t Rushworth, vol. i., p. 101. Clarendon, Hist, of Reb. vol. i., pp. 5, 25. 
Whitlocke, p. 2. + Clarendon, Hist, of Reb. vol. i., pp. 259, 260. 



250 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

been obtained with a method and diligence, which proved 
that, even in leisure and retirement, he had not lost sight 
of more active scenes. From his earliest youth he had 
studied the graces of composition; in the most admired 
authors of England, of France, and of Rome, he had 
searched for the beauties of style ; and to the popular elo- 
quence of his age he had trained himself by a diligent 
attendance on the chief orators of the pulpit, the bar, and 
the council. When he met with an esteemed oration or 
tract on any subject, he deferred studying it, till he had 
framed a speech on the same argument ; and then, from a 
comparison with his own essay, he endeavoured to appre- 
ciate the merits of the author, and to draw information for 
the correction of his own defects.* 

To the man thus formidable by his capacity, acquire- 
ments, and energy, Buckingham knew that he had given 
unprovoked offence: and daily apprehending an attack 
from the commons, he judged it expedient to conciliate 
this opponent by expressions of esteem, and promises of 
future favour. These overtures were not unacceptable to 
Wentworth. To the request for his good offices, he replied 
with address and dignity, " That he honoured the duke's 
person, and was ready to serve him in the quality of an 
honest man and a gentleman/' The duke replied by 
cordial acknowledgments ; and during the short remain- 
der of the session, Wentworth exerted himself to moderate 
the. resentment of his party. f 

These friendly appearances were of short duration. The 
king and his minister, amidst their fears, and their resent- 
ment at the proceedings of the last parliament, had over- 
looked their urgent necessities, or formed vain conceptions 
of their independent means of supply ; for few months had 
elapsed when another parliament was found to be their 
only resource. The intervening events, however, gave no 
reason to hope that this assembly would prove subservient 
to the views of the king. For the relief of his immediate 
* Radcliffe's Essay. f Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 34. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 251 

exigencies, he had compelled men to accept the title of 
knighthood ; employed the arbitrary and partial method of 
issuing privy-seals to particular persons ; # and with the 
money thus procured, he had equipped a fleet, from whose 
operations he expected farther supplies. The bay and 
harbour of Cadiz were full of valuable merchantmen ; and 
the galleons, which annually conveyed to Europe the 
treasures of America, were about this season expected. 
From the rich plunder of these vessels the court formed 
sanguine hopes ; but had the mortification to see their 
fleet return, disappointed in all its attempts, and with its 
numbers miserably reduced by a pestilential distemper. 
Fresh fuel was now added to the popular discontents ; the 
disgraces as well as the losses of the nation were the theme 
of complaint ; and Buckingham was denounced as the 
author of all public calamities, f 

Compelled, by his necessities, to call a parliament in 
these unpropitious circumstances, Charles attempted some 
expedients to soothe and to weaken their opposition. As 
their suspicion of his secret attachment to popery seemed 
to have been the chief cause of their late alarm, he issued 
several proclamations for the suppression of recusants ;± 
and an ancient custom furnished him with a stratagem to 
exclude from the house of commons his most active and 
formidable opponents. By the feudal tenures, every one 
was pledged, when called on, to attend the civil as well 
as the military business of his sovereign; and, as a degree 
of honour was connected with all public appointments, 
the claim of the prince, thus originating, had, to the days 
of Charles, been acquiesced in without dispute. Among 
these, the office of high sheriff, from its fatigue and ex- 
pense, would often have been declined, had not the no- 
mination of the sovereign been considered as irresistible. 
Besides other disadvantages, this appointment included a 
disability to serve in parliament ; for a person could not at 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 28. Rushworth, vol. i., p. 199. 
f Rushworth, vol. i. Clarendon, vol. i. + Rushworth, vol.i. 



252 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

the same time attend to the interests of his constituents, 
and discharge the duties which he owed to his king as 
sheriff. The rule had, indeed, been occasionally dispensed 
with ; but the monarch asserted a right to enforce its ob- 
servance, and to prevent the sheriff, whom he had nomi- 
nated, from neglecting his service to attend the call of 
his subjects. Of this custom Charles, by the advice of 
Buckingham, now availed himself; and by fixing on six 
of the most popular leaders as sheriffs for the year, he 
precluded their immediate re-election to parliament* 

Wentworth heard with surprise and indignation that he 
was included in the number. Buckingham having made 
his advances from fear, had regarded his friendly replies 
with suspicion, and having been informed that some lead- 
ing men, of whom Wentworth was one, had agreed to 
support a prosecution against him in the next parliament, 
thought he should more safely trust to the inability, than 
to the professions of his adversary.f Wentworth left no 
means untried to escape this unseasonable appointment. 
He solicited the intercession of his friends at court ; but 
they could only remind him of the uncontroulable influence 
of his enemy ; " that those whom he would advance were 
advanced ; and those whom he but frowned upon were 
thrown down. "J The duke, to conciliate the approaching 
parliament by an appearance of solicitude for the recovery 
of the Palatinate, was now abroad on an embassy to the 
Low Countries; but the injunctions which he had given 
before his departure, were to Charles sacred and invio- 
lable. " I think," writes Sir Arthur Ingram to Wentworth, 
" if all the council that was at court had joined together in 
request for you, it would not have prevailed ; for it was set 
and resolved what should be done before the great duke's 
going over, and from that the king would not change 
a tittle." § 

Another expedient still remained. The disability|to 

* Rushworth, vol. i. Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 29. 

t Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 28. $ Ibid. § Ibid, p. 29. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 253 

serve in parliament which was supposed to attend the 
office of sheriff, depended merely on a custom, which had 
been sometimes infringed, and often strenuously disputed. 
Some of his fellow-sufferers had consequently resolved to 
procure their re-election, and insist on their rights : # but 
after mature deliberation, a more moderate course seemed 
eligible to Wentworth. He had reason to think that he 
was by no means particularly obnoxious to the court. In 
reading over the list of sheriffs, the king had passed the 
rest without notice ; but on naming Wentworth, he had 
added, " he is an honest gentleman."*)- He could reckon 
several of the ministers among his intimate friends ; and 
it seemed most imprudent to bar the door of favour 
against himself for ever, by engaging in a doubtful and 
dangerous conflict with the crown. In the moderate 
course, to which these considerations moved him, he was 
confirmed by the counsels of Lord Clare, whose beautiful 
and accomplished daughter, Lady Arabella Hollis, he had 
lately married. His lordship, in reply to Wentworth's 
request for advice, highly commends his prudent resolves ; 
expresses an apprehension that it was vain to oppose the 
claims of the king ; and that, even should the election be 
found valid, the court, in revenge, would proceed to dis- 
franchise the electors. He, indeed, heartily wishes suc- 
cess to those who had the boldness to stand forward on 
this occasion ; and that their prevailing over the trick of 
the courtiers might produce new security for the subject 
and the parliament, " and make great ones more cautious 
in wrestling with that high court." Yet he would not 
have these advantages purchased with the danger of his 
son-in-law; and he concludes with citing Wentworth's 
own words, that, in such a case, " it was much better to be 
a spectator than an actor." J The event justified the cau- 
tion, if not the magnanimity of this conduct : the oppo- 
sition attempted to the mandates of the court proved 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 30. f Ibid, p. 29. 

X Earl of Clare to Wentworth, Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 31. 



254 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

ineffectual ; # and Sir Edward Coke, in the subordinate 
station of sheriff, was obliged to attend the circuits where 
he had once presided. 

This invidious artifice, while it exposed the weakness 
of government, produced not the expected benefits. In 
the new parliament appeared the same spirit of indepen- 
dence, the same forcible oratory, the same dislike of the 
favourite, the same determined purpose to redress the 
public abuses ; and the court now learnt with dismay, that 
a favourable occasion will always call forth talent, and 
stimulate exertion. 

In the opening speech, which was delivered by the lord 
keeper, the parliament were reminded of the supreme 
height and majesty of the monarch, the unspeakable pri- 
vilege they enjoyed in being allowed to approach him, his 
many private virtues, and his uncommon affection to par- 
liaments. This love was now his only motive for calling 
them together ; and the same sentiment made him un- 
willing to prolong their sitting, since their safety might 
again be brought into peril by a dangerous contagion. 
He therefore requested them to proceed without delay in 
framing good and wise laws, — the express purpose of their 
convocation. That nothing might diminish the effect of 
this unusually gracious language, no mention was made 
of supplies. f 

The commons, taking this friendly exhortation in good 
part, proceeded to investigate such abuses as required the 
remedy of new laws. They now discovered that the ex- 
penses of the crown had been needlessly increased ; that 
new impositions and monopolies had been multiplied, and 
the regular customs enhanced by a new book of rates : 
that the duties of tonnage and poundage, which former 
princes had uniformly received from the bounty of parlia- 
ment, were now levied by the sole authority of the king ■$ 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 401. f Ibid, pp. 202, 203. 

X These duties on exports and imports had been granted to each mo- 
narch only during his own life ; but at the commencement of a new reign, 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 255 

that the late grants of the commons had been misapplied; 
and the honour as well as the safety of the nation com- 
promised by shameful mismanagement. They found that 
a direct and solemn promise made by the king to the last 
parliament, that he would remove popish recusants from 
all offices of trust, had been eluded ; and they were en- 
abled to present him with a long list of such persons still 
occupying important stations. Other instances of dubious 
faith in the prince were now also brought to light. The 
Earl of Bristol, who had resided as ambassador in Spain, 
and had, by his prudence and skill, brought the match 
with the Infanta almost to a conclusion, when it was 
broken off by the intrigues of Buckingham, had witnessed 
all the misconduct of the favourite, and had, to prevent 
dangerous discoveries, been silenced and confined on his 
arrival in England. Being now released, he delivered an 
explicit account of the whole transaction ; from which it 
too plainly appeared that Charles, even while he inter- 
changed the most solemn oaths of friendship with the 
King of Spain, had already determined to violate them ; 
and that he had, in the face of parliament, sanctioned the 
duke's narrative of their reception in Spain, when he knew 
it to be false. # 

All these abuses and breaches of good faith were im- 
puted to Buckingham. It was then, as now, the rule that 
ministers alone were accountable for political mismanage- 
ment ; and from the unbounded control of the duke over 
his sovereign, no minister was ever more justly charged 
with that responsibility. The commons alleged that he 
had impoverished the crown by the vast gifts in money 
and land, which he had received for himself and his kin- 
dred ; that he had accumulated into his own hands a mul- 

the prince had sometimes ventured to levy them till a parliament could 
be summoned to grant them ; and as he never pretended to do so of 
right, the act had passed unquestioned. The misunderstanding between 
Charles and his first parliament had deprived him of this grant, and he 
now avowedly levied the duties by his own authority. 
* Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 207, 208, 238, 25G. 



256 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

tiplicity of high and incompatible offices ; that, in defer- 
ence to his father and mother-in-law, who were avowed 
Catholics, he had connived at the indulgence of recusants; 
that, through him, honours, offices, places of judicature, 
and ecclesiastical promotions, had been scandalously set 
to sale ; and that, in his united capacity of admiral and 
general, he had left the narrow seas unguarded, delivered 
over vessels to assist the French court against the Protest- 
ants of Rochelle, and, by his criminal negligence and 
imprudence, given rise to disasters both by sea and land. 
These accusations they proceeded to prove in an impeach- 
ment before the house of lords.* 

The king and the favourite looked with dread on these 
proceedings, which they had neither the resolution to 
await, nor the address to elude. As soon as direct 
charges began to be advanced in the house of commons 
against the duke, Charles, laying aside his former con- 
ciliatory language, resolved to accelerate their grants by 
peremptory demands, and to repress their accusations by 
menaces. Overlooking the right of impeachment, which 
the commons had acted on, unchallenged, both in the last 
and the preceding reigns, he told them that he would not 
allow them to call in question even his meanest servant, 
far less his chosen minister ; he threatened to avenge him- 
self of those members who presumed to speak disrespect- 
fully of the duke ; and commanded them, as they wished 
to avoid worse consequences, without delay to declare the 
exact amount of the supplies which they were willing to 
grant, f 

The commons, to show that it was not their object to 
distress the king, voted him three fifteenths and three 
subsidies, to which they afterwards added a fourth ; but 
convinced, both from former experience and the present 
disposition of the court, that this was the only hold which 
they had on its forbearance, they deferred passing the vote 
into a law, till their grievances should first be preferred 

* Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 214, 217, 303, et seq. f Ibid, pp. 214—217. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 257 

and answered. # At the same time, disregarding the me- 
naces of the court, they proceeded to investigate the mis- 
conduct of Buckingham.t 

Charles now resolved to increase the vigour of his 
language. He told the commons, that he wofald suffer 
no violation -of his royal rights, under colour of parlia- 
mentary liberty; that he would permit no inquiry into 
the conduct of his meanest servant ; and that he considered 
their charges against the duke as attacks on his own 
honour. He expressed his displeasure at the scantiness 
of the supplies, and still more at the condition with which 
they were accompanied, and fixed a precise day, by which 
he commanded them to state, directly and finally, the 
amount of unconditional supplies which they purposed to 
grant. To make them aware that he had still more de- 
cisive measures in agitation, he added, "remember that 
parliaments are altogether in my power for their calling, 
sitting, and dissolution ; therefore, as I find the fruits of 
them good or evil, they are to continue, or not to be."f 

But the resolution of Charles was unequal to the bold- 
ness of his language. Hearing that his speech had excited 
high indignation among the commons, he sent Buckingham 
to explain away the offensive expressions, and to retract 
his peremptory demand of supplies by a precise day.§ He 
afterwards, without expressing any resentment, received a 
remonstrance, in which they asserted, " that it hath been 
the ancient, constant, and undoubted right and usage of 
parliaments, to question and complain of all persons, of 
what degree soever, found grievous to the commonwealth, 
in abusing the power and trust committed to them by 
their sovereign."! So far from impeding their impeach- 
ment of the duke, Charles now, by a special message, 
permitted them to introduce what new matter they pleased 
into the charges which they had exhibited against him.^I 

* Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 221, 409. t Ibid, p. 221. X Ibid, pp. 222—225. 
§ Ibid, p. 226. || Ibid, p. 245. IT Ibid, p. 248. 



258 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

Yet the prosecution was hardly commenced, when the 
alarm of the favourite and the violent resolves of the king 
returned. Two of the most active managers of the im- 
peachment were sent to the Tower ; # and Sir Dudley Carl- 
ton, the vice-chamberlain, renewed, still more explicitly, 
the king's former threats. " I beseech you, gentlemen/' 
said he, " move not his majesty by trenching on his pre- 
rogatives, lest you bring him out of love with parliaments. 
You have heard his majesty's frequent messages to you, 
to put you forward in a course that will be most conve- 
nient. In those messages he told you, that, if there were 
not correspondency between him and you, he should be 
enforced to use new counsels. Now, I pray you, consider 
what these new counsels are, and may be : I fear to de- 
clare those that I conceive. In all Christian kingdoms, 
you know that parliaments were in use anciently, by 
which they were governed in a most flourishing manner, 
until the monarchs began to know their own strength; 
and seeing the turbulent spirit of their parliaments, they 
at length, by little and little, began to stand upon their 
own prerogatives, and at last overthrew the parliaments 
throughout Christendom, except here only with us. And, 
indeed, you would count it a great misery, if you knew 
the subject in foreign countries as well as myself; to see 
them look, not like our nation, with store of flesh on their 
backs, but like so many ghosts, and not men ; being 
nothing but skin and bones, with some thin cover to their 
nakedness, and wearing only wooden shoes on their feet ; 
so that they cannot eat meat, or wear good clothes, but 
they must pay taxes to the king for it. This is a misery 
beyond expression, and that which yet we are free from. 
Let us be careful, then, to preserve the king's good opi- 
nion of parliaments, which bring this happiness to this 
nation, and make us envied of all others, while there is this 
sweetness between his majesty and his commons, lest we 
* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 356. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 259 

lose the repute of a free born nation, by turbulency in 
parliament."* 

The commons had just reason to be alarmed at this 
discourse, which so plainly intimated that the national 
freedom could be retained only by their unlimited com- 
pliance ; that the king, rather than have his will disputed, 
would, like the other absolute princes of Europe, overturn 
the ancient constitution of his country, and reduce his 
people, from a flourishing condition, to the lowest ebb of 
wretchedness. But their indignation was further aggra- 
vated, when they saw the Duke of Buckingham, in con- 
tempt of their impeachment, ostentatiously invested with 
new dignities. The chancellorship of the university of 
Cambridge having become vacant, the king signified his 
pleasure that Buckingham should be elected to this station 
of honour. The majority of the members yielded obe- 
dience ; and the king, in a public letter of thanks to the 
university, assured them that he considered an honour 
conferred on the duke as an obligation to himself, f 

It was in vain that the king now addressed the indig- 
nant commons, again commanding them to expedite the 
bill of supplies by a certain day, and threatening that he 
would otherwise have recourse to other resolutions. They 
replied by a humble petition for the removal of Bucking- 
ham from access to the royal presence ; and proceeded, in 
temperate and respectful language, to draw up a more 
detailed remonstrance to the same effect, in which they 
also protested against the illegal levying of tonnage and 
poundage : when the king, alarmed and angry, suddenly 
put an end to their labours by a dissolution.^ 

During this eventful contest, Wentworth continued, at 
a distance from the scene, calmly and diligently executing 
the duties of his office. Although he had undertaken 
them with reluctance, he was determined to discharge 
them with fidelity ; and, in the true spirit of a philosopher, 
he says, " I will withal closely and quietly attend my 
* Rush worth, vol. i., p. 359. f Ibid, 371, 374. + Ibid, 397, 404, 405. 

s2 



260 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

own private fortune, repairing and settling it with inno- 
cent hands, moderate and regulated desires, and so repose 
myself on the goodness of the Almighty, that doth not 
only divert the scourges of an adversary, but doth even 
convert them into health and soundness. Can there be a 
fairer or fuller revenge? Insanos feri tumultus ridere. Is 
there any state or condition so safe, more to be recom- 
mended ? Virtus vitcs tacitos beatce, rure secreto, sibi nota 
tandum, exigit annos. Yet I do lament, sadly lament, the 
miseries of these times, being reduced to such a prostra- 
tion of spirit, as we are neither able to overcome the exulce- 
rated disease, nor to endure a sharp prevalent remedy/'* 

To the last subject, which now alone seemed to inter- 
rupt his philosophic tranquillity, he again adverts, and 
heartily offers his prayers for the success of the oppositi- 
onists, since he was now precluded from rendering them 
other assistance. " For my own part, I will commit them 
to their active heat; and, according to the season of the 
year, fold myself up in a cold, silent forbearance, apply 
myself cheerfully to the duties of my place, and heartily 
pray to God to bless Sir Francis Seymour.f For my 
rule, which I will not transgress, is, never to contend 
with the prerogative out of a parliament ; nor yet to con- 
test with a king but when I am constrained thereunto, or 
else make shipwreck of my integrity and peace of con- 
science, which I trust God will ever bless me with, and 
with courage, too, to preserve it."J 

While pursuing these resolutions, so prudent amidst the 
distraction of the times, Wentworth received new over- 
tures from Buckingham. Alarmed at the accusations 
preparing in parliament, and fearful of the general indig- 
nation, the favourite deemed it high time to conciliate some 

* Wentworth to Wandesford, Strafford's Letters, vol-, i., p. 32. 

f One of the members nominated sheriffs, who was now, in defiance 
of the displeasure of the crown, attempting to procure his re-election. — 
Strafford's Letters, vol i., p. 39. 

X Ibid, p. 33. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 261 

of those angry spirits whom his former insolence had ex- 
asperated. To Wentworth, whose vigour and influence 
were objects of dread, he forgot not to apply his arts; 
and, having called him to a personal interview, assured 
him that his nomination as sheriff had taken place without 
his knowledge, and during his absence ; and begged that 
all former misunderstandings should be buried in a con- 
tract of permanent friendship. The protestations of the 
duke were evidently false, his proffers of amity probably 
insincere; yet his necessity for the support of able men, 
under his present load of public reproach, opened a door 
to preferment, opportune and apparently certain. Went- 
worth, therefore, met these advances with cordiality : and 
having again waited on the duke, and experienced the most 
obliging reception, he departed, in full satisfaction, for 
Yorkshire, to await, amidst his private and official avoca- 
tions, the result of these favourable appearances. # 

But the impetuosity and rashness of Buckingham set 
all calculations at defiance. Whether moved by the re- 
presentations of some interested intriguer, or confirmed 
in his confident schemes by the respite which he enjoyed 
after the dissolution of parliament, he was accessary to a 
step which gave a new edge to the enmity of Wentworth. 
The office of custos rotulorum, though of little emolu- 
ment, was attended with considerable honour; and as 
Wentworth had been permitted to enjoy it when out of 
favour at court, he had no reason to doubt of its security 
after his reconciliation with Buckingham. It was with no 
small surprise that he now received his majesty's order to 
resign the office to his old antagonist Sir John Savile ; 
and still more was his resentment roused, when the war- 
rant was presented to him before a full meeting of the 
county, at which, in his quality of high sheriff, he presi- 
ded. He addressed the lords and gentlemen around him : 
he pointedly remarked that " this was a place ill chosen, a 
* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 34, 35. 



262 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

stage ill prepared, for venting such poor, vain, insulting 
humour." He declared himself ready to prove, at the 
price of his life, that he had never declined from the plain 
and open ways of loyalty, that he had never falsified the 
precious and general trust of his county, that he had never 
injured or overborne the meanest individual under the 
disguised mask of justice and favour. Aiittle flattery and 
compliance at court would, he added, have rendered him 
secure. " The world," said he, " may well think I know 
the way which would have kept my place. I confess, 
indeed, it had been too dear a purchase ; so I leave it, not 
conscious of any fault in myself, nor yet acquainted with 
any virtue in my successor, that should occasion this 
removal. " # 

Yet Wentworth, though he vigorously repelled this 
public affront, did not allow his passion to silence the 
voice of discretion. He took precautions that this unex- 
pected mollification should not prejudice him with the 
prince, whom he might hope hereafter to serve in a 
superior capacity. An intimacy, which he had formed 
with Sir Richard Weston, chancellor of the exchequer, fur- 
nished him with the means of executing these intentions. 
This man had improved the advantages of birth and for- 
tune, which he derived from his ancestors, by a good 
education, and a sagacious observation of men. Having 
devoted his exertions to obtain preferment at court, he 
spent the last part of a fair estate in acquiring the ac- 
quaintance and favour of the great men in authority ; and 
had his attendance at length rewarded by an appointment 
to several embassies abroad. In these he displayed a dili- 
gence and address which soon procured him the rank of 
a privy counsellor, and the place of chancellor of the ex- 
chequer. The court was by no means popular, his patron 
Buckingham, was pursued by a general odium, and him- 
self, from the avowed tenets of his family, suspected of 
* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 36. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 263 

an attachment to popery.* Yet, by carefully avoiding 
every occasion of offence, he had the rare good fortune to 
be acceptable to the court, and yet not displeasing to 
parliament. f With Wentworth he had formed a peculiar 
intimacy, had laboured to accommodate his differences 
with the duke, and had been present at their several 
interviews for reconciliation. 

To this friend, Wentworth now represented, by letter, 
the injustice which he had sustained ; reminded him of the 
several advances of the duke ; and called on him to wit- 
ness that every new breach had proceeded from a new 
provocation on the part of his grace. " At the dissolved 
parliament in Oxford," said he, " you are privy how I was 
moved from and in behalf of the Duke of Buckingham, 
with promise of his good esteem and favour ; you are privy 
that my answer was, ' I did honour the duke's person, that 
I would be ready to serve him in the quality of an honest 
man and a gentleman :' you are privy that the duke took 
this in good part, and sent me thanks, as for respects done 
him ; you are privy how, during that sitting, (session,) I 
performed what I had professed. The consequence of all 
this was, the making me sheriff the next winter after. It is 
true the duke, a little before Whitsuntide last, at White- 
hall, in your presence, said it was done without his grace's 
knowledge : that he was then in Holland. At Whitehall, 
Easter term last, you brought me to the duke ; his grace 
did before you contract (as he pleased to term it) a friend- 
ship with me, all former mistakes laid aside, forgotten. 
After, I went at my coming out of town, to receive his 
commands, to kiss his grace's hands, where I had all the 
good words and good usage which could be expected, 
which bred in me a great deal of content, a full security. 
Now the consequence here again is, that even yesterday I 

* We find it afterwards the general opinion, that Weston died a Papist. 
None but persons of that persuasion were present at his death. — Straf- 
ford's Letters, vol. i., p. 389. 

f Clarendon, Hist, of Reb. vol. i., pp. 48, 49. 



264 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 



received his majesty's writ, for the discharging me of the 
poor place of custos rotulorum, which I held here. His 
good pleasure shall be cheerfully obeyed ; yet I cannot 
but observe, that the reward of my long, painful, and 
loyal service to his majesty in that place, is thus to be 
cast off, without any fault laid to my charge that I hear 
of; and that his grace too was now in England. I have 
therefore troubled you with this unartificial relation, 
to show you the singleness of my heart, resting in all 
assurance justly confident, you shall never find that I 
have, for my own part, in a tittle trangressed from what 
hath passed betwixt us." # 

This letter Wentworth followed up by another, in which 
he solicits his friend, at some favourable opportunity, to 
represent to his majesty the estimation in which he was 
held by the late king, his ardent attachment to his present 
sovereign, his unfeigned grief at the apprehension of his 
displeasure, and his eager desire to show his affection and 
zeal by future services. — " Calling to mind the faithful ser- 
vice I had the honour to do to his majesty now with God, 
how graciously he vouchsafed to accept and express it 
openly sundry times, I enjoy with myself much comfort 
and contentment. On the other side, though in my breast 
still strongly dwell entire intentions, and by God's good- 
ness shall to my grave, towards his sacred majesty that 
now is, yet I well may apprehend the weight of his indig- 
nation, being put out of all commissions wherein I had 
formerly served and been trusted. This makes me sensible 
of my misfortune, though not conscious of any inward 
guilt that might occasion it ; resting infinitely ambitious, 
not of any new employment, but much rather to live under 
the smile than the frown of my sovereign. In this strait, 
therefore, give me leave to recommend to you the protec- 
tion of my innocence, and to beseech you, at some good 
opportunity, to represent unto his majesty my tender and 
unfeigned grief for his disfavour: my fears also that I 
* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 34, 35. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 265 

stand, before his justice and goodness, clad in the male- 
volent interpretations, and prejudiced by the subtle in- 
sinuations of my adversaries : and lastly, my only and 
humble suit, that his majesty would princely deign, that 
my insufficiency or fault may be shown me ; to this only 
end, that, if insufficiency, I may know where and how to 
improve myself, and be better enabled to present hereafter 
more ripe and pleasing fruits of my labours in his service : 
if a fault, that I may either confess my error, and beg his 
pardon ; or else, which I am most confident I shall do, 
approve myself throughout an honest and well-affected 
loyal subject, with full, plain, and upright satisfaction to 
all that can, by the greatest malice, or undisguised truth, 
be objected against me."* 

The friends who were acquainted with this respectful 
submission of Wentworth were not a little surprised when 
they saw him, not many months after, boldly stand for- 
ward as the assertor of popular rights, and the opponent 
of the crown, in its most favourite exertions of power. But 
this conduct, though to them it might bear the aspect 
of imprudence and temerity, was dictated by a profound 
appreciation of the intervening circumstances. 

Charles, having dissolved the parliament, hastened to 
show that his threats of resorting to new counsels were 
not empty words, and that, according to the explicit 
menace of the vice-chamberlain, he was resolved, after 
the example of other European kings, to extinguish the 
importunate privileges of parliament. The most urgent 
task was to provide money for the exigencies of the state, 
and various expedients were without delay put in force. 
The privy council issued an order that all those duties of 
tonnage and poundage on exports and imports, which had 
hitherto required a grant from parliament, should now be 
paid on a demand from the king.f The commons, we 
have seen, had resolved, if not prevented by a dissolution, 
to grant four subsidies and three fifteenths ; this money it 
* Strafford's Letters, vol. i. p. 35. f Rushworth, vol. i., p. 413. 



266 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 



was resolved to levy partly by privy-seals, and partly in 
the form of a benevolence ; the people being called on to 
consider the contribution as " merely a free gift from the 
subject to the sovereign."* Popish recusants had hitherto 
been subjected to heavy penalties and legal disabilities: 
these were now compounded for a fine to the exchequer. f 
The nobility were requested, by particular messages from 
the king, to set an example to the rest of his subjects, by 
the liberality of their contributions. J As the submission 
of the city of London was also a precedent of much 
importance, it was commanded to advance his majesty a 
loan of a hundred thousand pounds ; and when the magis- 
trates endeavoured to excuse themselves from this partial 
imposition, they were desired to comply without delay, or 
to abide the consequences of those counsels which it be- 
came a king to frame on extreme and important occasions. § 
To equip a fleet with the least trouble and delay, each 
sea-port was commanded to furnish a certain number of 
ships, specified by the privy council ; and, with the assist- 
ance of the neighbouring counties, to furnish them with 
men, arms, ammunition, and all manner of sea stores. 
And when some ports, alarmed at this novel and arbitrary 
imposition, endeavoured to avert it by petitions, they were 
informed, " that state occasions are not to be guided by 
ordinary precedents ;" and warned not to obstruct the 
demand " by petitions and pleadings, which tend to the 
danger of the commonwealth, and are not to be received." || 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 416. f Ibid, pp. 413, 414. 

X Ibid, p. 415. § Ibid. 

|| Ibid, p. 415. Mr. Hume, (vol. vi., p. 225, 8vo. edit.) represents this 
as " a taxation once imposed by Elizabeth :" but nothing could be more 
unlike than the two cases. When the mighty preparations for the Ar- 
mada were announced, all ranks of men in England, alarmed for what- 
ever they held dear, hastened to offer their persons and property for the 
defence of their country. Many noblemen and gentlemen, at their own 
private expense, equipped vessels and served on board of them in person ; 
and the maritime towns vied with each other in furnishing ships for the 
public service. It was at this juncture that Elizabeth, by an order of the 
privy council, regulated the number of vessels which it would be requi- 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 267 

While the minds of men were thrown into a ferment by 
these circumstances, the irregular exactions imposed by 
royal authority were too slowly extorted from an unwilling 
people, to answer the exigencies of the government. 
Charles, therefore, boldly ventured to impose, by his own 
mandates, those general and regular contributions, which 
parliament alone had, for ages, been accounted compe- 
tent to bestow. # By a royal decree, he commanded a 
general contribution to be levied over all the kingdom. It 
bore the less invidious name of a loan ; but that no one 
might be ignorant of its real nature and intention, the 
assessment was ordered to be made according to the forms 
and proportion of a subsidy .f Could the people be brought 
to give peaceably one subsidy without the intervention of 
parliament, habit, it was thought, would soon reconcile 
them to the new system, and free the crown from its tram- 
mels for ever. Strenuous precautions were taken to ensure 
the success of the measure : commissioners, sworn to 

site for each sea-port to furnish towards the common defence : but so far 
did the zeal of the people outrun even the apprehended necessities of 
government, that several sea-ports, and among the rest London, sent 
double the number of vessels which the queen had specified. But 
when this contribution in kind was required by Charles, no such emer- 
gency existed : instead of regulating the overflowing liberality of his sub- 
jects, he obtained his supplies by compulsion : and both the court and 
people looked on the imposition as a method of supplying the wants of 
government, without having recourse to the ancient forms of the con- 
stitution. 

* It must strike every reader, on perusing the original records of that 
period, that neither Charles nor his courtiers denied that these arbitrary 
impositions were infringements of the popular rights. Evren while en- 
forcing the measure here alluded to, Charles thought it expedient to 
soothe the minds of men by a declaration, stating, " that the urgency of 
the occasion would not give leave to the calling of a parliament ; but as- 
suring the people, that this way should not be made a precedent for the 
time to come, to charge them or their posterity, to the prejudice of their 
just and ancient liberties enjoyed under his most noble ancestors.'''' — Rush- 
worth, vol. i., p. 41 8. Charles and his courtiers considered these measures 
as a part of his new counsels ; to defend them on the ground of precedent, 
was the attempt of a later age. 

t Rushworth, vol. i., p. 418. 



268 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

secrecy, were instructed in the art of mingling authority 
with example, and persuasion with menace : neither excuse 
nor remonstrance were to be admitted, nor was resistance 
to be allowed to gain strength from delay and reflection.* 

These proceedings spread universal consternation among 
all ranks of men. They saw the only bond by which they 
held their ancient liberties about to be rent asunder, and 
their boasted constitution assimilated to the other absolute 
governments of Europe.f The spirit of resistance diffused 
itself throughout every condition ; and the loan was re- 
fused by needy mechanics as well as by men distinguished 
for their rank and fortune. 

With these opposers of the court, his friends, with grief 
and surprise, saw Wentworth take a decided part. They 
conjured him to abandon a resolution by which he would 
forfeit all pretensions to discretion : they represented the 

* Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 418, 419. 

f The following extract from Archbishop Abbot's Narrative strongly 
represents the general sentiments at that period : — " For the matter of 
the loan, I knew not a long time what to make of it. I saw, on the one 
side, the king's necessity for money, and especially it being resolved that 
the war should be pursued ; and on the other side I could not forget, that 
in the parliament great sums were offered, if the petitions of the com- 
mons might be hearkened unto. It ran still in my mind, that the old and 
usual way was best ; that, in kingdoms, the harmony was sweetest where 
the prince and the people tuned well together. It ran in my mind, that 
this new device for money could not long hold out ; that then we must 
return into the highway, whither it were best to retire ourselves betimes, 
the shortest errors being the best. At the opening of the commission for 
the loan, I was sent for from Croydon. It seemed to me a strange thing ; 
but I was told, that, howsoever it showed, the king would have it so, 
there was no speaking against it. 1 have not heard, that men throughout 
the kingdom should lend money against their will ; 1 knew not what to 
make of it. But when I saw the instructions, that the refusers should 
be sent away for soldiers to the King of Denmark, I began to remember 
Urias, that was set in the fore-front of the battle ; and, to speak truth, 
I durst not be tender in it. And when afterwards I saw that men were to 
be put to their oath, with whom they had conference, and whether any 
did dissuade them, and yet further beheld that divers were to be impri- 
soned, I thought this was somewhat a new world.'''' — See the archbishop's 
Narrative in Rush worth, vol. i., p. 455. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 269 

dangers which his health would incur from the rigours of 
a prison, and the ruin which must overwhelm all his 
ambitious hopes. # He deceived himself, they said, if he 
considered this resistance as revenging his quarrel on the 
duke ; that his maj esty had adopted the measure as pecu- 
liarly his own ; that Buckingham, alarmed at the general 
discontent, had even endeavoured to dissuade him from 
persevering in it, but had the mortification to receive an 
absolute denial ; for, said the king, " my honour is en- 
gaged, and the eyes of the kingdom are upon me."f 
They informed him that his majesty had, on this occasion, 
avowedly taken the punishment of the refractory into his 
own hands. " No one," said his brother-in-law, Lord 
Clifford, " will henceforth venture to move the king in 
your favour ; for his heart is so inflamed in this business, 
that he vows a perpetual remembrance, as well as a pre- 
sent punishment. "J 

But the resistance of Wentworth was prompted by very 
substantial reasons. If he had a spark of patriotism or 
generosity in his bosom, this was the season to stand 
forth in defence of the expiring liberties of his country : 
and even if ambition were, as his friends seemed to have 
imagined, the predominant principle of his mind, the 
course which he pursued was conformable to the most 
deliberate dictates of reflection. Buckingham, he knew, 
had long cherished animosity towards him ; § and, from 
the character of his grace, he had no reason to expect 
any disinterested patronage. Yet, by the force of his 
parliamentary eloquence, he had extorted from the fears 
of the minister what he could never have obtained from 
his liberality; he had compelled him to make repeated 
advances, and at least to counterfeit the appearances of 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. L, pp. 37—39. f Ibid, p. 38. $ Ibid. 

§ So unacceptable was Wentworth at this time to Buckingham, that 
even an intimacy with him was sometimes prejudicial to his friends. 
Archbishop Abbot mentions, among the causes of his sequestration, the 

displeasure of the duke at his. intercourse with Wentworth See his 

Narrative in Rush worth, vol. i., p. 451. 



270 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

friendship. But, if the new system of raising supplies 
should pass into an established practice ; if parliaments, 
rendered unnecessary, should cease to be assembled, no 
scope would be afforded for the display of talent, no 
means left for awing the insolent favourite. No longer 
trembling under the terrors of an impeachment, Bucking- 
ham would continue with impunity to wound his oppo- 
nents, and to lavish the offices and honours of the state 
among his own creatures. 

Whether animated by patriotism, or prompted by 
ambition, Wentworth refused to pay the demanded con- 
tribution ; and having, before the privy council, persisted 
in justifying his conduct, he was first thrown into prison, 
and afterwards, as a mitigated punishment, sent to Dart- 
ford in Kent, where he was prohibited from going above 
two miles from the town.* 

This restraint was not of long continuance. The re- 
sistance of the people increased with the necessities of the 
crown ,• and Charles, if he had the resolution, found he 
wanted the power, to give efficacy to his new counsels. 
The proposed system of government, difficult under any 
circumstances, was impracticable under the course which 
he pursued. Injudicious innovations, from the ruling 
party in the church, excited general discontent. f A pro- 

* Radcliffe's Essay. Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 39. 

f Dr. Sibthorp and Dr. Manwaring, in their pulpit orations for the 
advancement of the loan. The former preached a sermon, entitled 
Apostolical Obedience. It was dedicated to the king, and licensed by Laud, 
bishop of London ; for the archbishop of Canterbury, having refused to 
give .it this sanction, fell under the high displeasure of the court, and 
was sequestered from his functions. Among other doctrines to the same 
purport, Sibthorp here maintained, that, " if princes command any thing 
which subjects may not perform, because it is against the laws of God, 
or of nature, or impossible ; yet subjects are bound to undergo the 
punishment, without either resisting, or railing, or reviling, and so to 
yield a passive obedience where they cannot exhibit an active one. I 
know no other case," continued he, " but one of those three, wherein a 
subject may excuse himself with passive obedience." Dr. Manwaring, 
in sermons preached before the king and court at Whitehall, asserted, 
" that the king is not bound to observe the laws of the realm concerning 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 271 

clamation by the king, prohibiting the promulgation of 
any but orthodox doctrines, was construed into a dis- 
couragement of the creed of Luther, and a recommen- 
dation of that of Arminius.* The primate of England, 
venerable for his years and moderation, was sequestered, 
by a royal mandate, from his authority, because he 
refused his sanction to discourses recommending passive 
obedience. Judges who refused to pervert justice, were 
displaced for the obsequious creatures of the crown ; and 
decisions contrary to positive law were given against 
those who resisted arbitrary exactions. Men whose rank 
and fortune commanded respect were indeed only com- 
mitted to prison, without benefit of the Habeas Corpus 

the subject's rights and liberties, but that his royal will and command in 
imposing loans and taxes, without common consent in parliament, doth 
oblige the subject's conscience, upon pain of eternal damnation. That 
those who refused to pay this loan offended against the law of God and 
the king's supreme authority, and became guilty of impiety, disloyalty, 
and rebellion. That the authority of parliament is not necessary for the 
raising of aids and subsidies ; and that the slow proceedings of such great 
assemblies were not fitted for the supply of the state's urgent necessities, 
but would rather produce sundry impediments to the just designs of 
princes." — Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 422, 423. Mr. Hume, in alluding to 
these sermons, observes, that " there is nothing which tends more to 
excuse, if not justify, the extreme rigour of the commons towards 
Charles, than his open avowal and encouragement of such general prin- 
ciples as were altogether incompatible with a limited government." 

* The prelates most devoted to the court had adopted the tenets, 
with respect to predestination and certain other points of theology, 
which had been propagated by Arminius ; and these, however rational, 
were a novelty in the church of England, which, along with other Pro- 
testant countries, had, at the Reformation, embraced the doctrine of 
Luther and Calvin. To that doctrine the great body of the nation, and 
among the rest the puritans, still firmly adhered ; and the contentions 
between the supporters of the old, and the propagators of the new 
doctrines, divided private societies, and resounded from the pulpit. The 
puritans (under which title the court comprised almost all assertors of 
civil or religious liberty) were farther alarmed, when they saw Williams, 
bishop of Lincoln, and lord keeper of England, removed from his 
office, and prosecuted in the Star-chamber, because he would not concur 
in an odious persecution against them. — Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 412, 
413, 421. 



272 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

act, or consigned to counties remote from their proper- 
ties ; but this lenity was attributed to fear, and not to a 
sense of justice, when the refractory among the lower 
orders were, without regard to their destitute families, 
impressed, some into the navy, others into the land 
forces.^ Various districts were put under martial law ; 
and bands of soldiers were dispersed over the country, 
and arbitrarily quartered on the inhabitants.^ 

Amidst the general ferment thus excited, the public 
were surprised to see the court plunge itself into another 
unprovoked war. The Duke of Buckingham having, 
during an embassy to France, been thwarted in an un- 
justifiable affair of gallantry, determined to revenge his 
disappointment by open hostilities ; J and Charles had the 
weakness to concur in the insolent fury of the favourite. 
The French servants of the young queen were dismissed,^ 
herself treated with disrespect, || and when the court of 
France still expressed its indignation only by remon- 
strances, Buckingham took effectual means to give acti- 
vity to its resentment, by causing some ships of that 
nation to be seized and carried into English ports. The 
duke having now resolved to show his prowess by under- 
taking an expedition in person, the treasury was drained, 
and large debts incurred, to furnish him with a suitable 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 422. 

f Ibid, pp. 419, 420. Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, vol. i., p. 41. 

X Rushworth, vol. i., p. 38. § Ibid, p. 424. 

|| The resignation with which Charles bore the insults and caprices of 
a man who had once threatened to strike him, and usually treated him 
with a very rude familiarity, might be ascribed to a disposition too mild 
to take offence, or too lenient to resent indignities. But we can scarcely 
reconcile to generosity or to manhood the rudeness with which he suf- 
fered this minion to treat his young and beautiful queen. One day, when 
Buckingham unjustly apprehended that she had shown some disrespect 
to his mother, in not going to her house at an appointed hour, a visit 
which was prevented by mere accident, he came into her chamber in 
much passion, and, after some rude expostulations, told her, " she should 
repent it." When her majesty answered with some spirit, he insolently 
replied, " that there had been queens in England who had lost their heads" — 
Clarendon, Hist, of Reb. vol. i., p. 39. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 273 

armament. His object was the relief of Rochelle, which 
he had so lately assisted to reduce ; but so ill were his 
measures concerted, that he found it necessary to dis- 
embark on the adjacent Isle of Rhe. Here, having suf- 
fered his army to be baffled by an inferior enemy, and to 
be at length overtaken in a situation where valour was of 
no avail, he narrowly escaped in the rout which followed, 
and hastening on board the ships, left his men to follow 
their general as they could. # 

From one end of the kingdom to the other, the news 
of this overthrow spread grief and consternation. In 
the confusion of the rout, numbers of all ranks had been 
crushed to death, or drowned, without the agency of an 
enemy. Scarcely a noble family but had to lament the 
death of a son, a brother, or a kinsman ; nor was their 
grief allayed by the consolation, that their relatives had 
fallen by honourable wounds. The fleet and the army 
broke out into mutinies ; and the government, over- 
whelmed with its difficulties, was unable to pay their 
arrears.f 

In this desperate condition, the court saw no alternative 
but to lay aside, for the present, its new counsels, so inaus- 
piciously begun, and to resume the old course till a more 
favourable opportunity. By the advice of Sir Robert 
Cotton, a member of the privy council, writs were issued 
for a new parliament ; and the severities, hitherto prac- 
tised against the popular party, were superseded by gra- 

* The account given by Mr. Hume of Buckingham's conduct on this 
occasion is different. He states that the duke "was the last of the army 
that embarked," and that he brought back with him to England at least 
" the vulgar praise of courage and personal bravery." Clarendon, who 
was a great admirer of his grace, also celebrates his courage on this occa- 
sion. The account given in the text is taken from a letter of the 
Honourable Denzil Hollis, afterwards Lord Hollis, to his brother-in- 
law, Wentworth, and inserted in Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 42. Hollis 
says he had his information from officers of rank ho served in the 
expedition. 

t Clarendon, History of the Rebellion, vol. i , pp. 40, 41. Rushworth, 
vol.i., p. 425. 

T 



274 EARL OF STRAFFORD, 

cious attempts at conciliation.* To break the tide of 
indignation, which now flowed against Buckingham, this 
happy change was publicly ascribed to his advice and 
earnest intercession with the king.f The archbishop of 
Canterbury, the bishop of Lincoln, the Earl of Bristol, so 
lately the objects of punishment, were now summoned, 
with other peers of their rank, to resume their seats in the 
parliament and the council. J The gentlemen who re- 
mained confined to prisons and distant counties, for refus- 
ing the general loan, were now freed from restraint ; and 
were immediately returned by the people to the house of 
commons, as the most strenuous assertors of their liber- 
ties. § Among the rest, Wentworth, liberated from his 
confinement at Dartford, was triumphantly re-elected for 
the county of York. || 

But these conciliatory measures formed only part of a 
plan, of which the grand characteristics were menace and 
terror. Seven days after the writs for this assembly were 
issued, all the principal officers of the crown were, by a 
commission under the great seal, authorized and com- 
manded to devise the best and speediest means of raising 
supplies for the exigencies of the state : and in this instru- 
ment they were reminded, that "form and circumstance 
must be dispensed with, rather than the substance be lost 
and hazarded." 51 The address of the king to the houses 
was in perfect correspondence with this language. With- 
out mentioning their grievances, or holding out any hope 
of redress, he shortly told them, "That common danger 
was the cause of this parliament, and supply the chief end 
of it : wherefore," said he, " if you should not do your 
duties, in contributing what the state at this time needs, 
I must, in discharge of my conscience, use those other 
means, which God hath put into my hands, to save that, 
which the follies of particular men may otherwise hazard 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 472. f Ibid. X Ibid, p. 474. 

§ Ibid, p. 472. |1 Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 46. 

f Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 474, 614. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 2?5 

to lose. Take not this as a threat," continued his ma- 
jesty, "for I scorn to threaten any but my equals ; but as 
an admonition from him that, both out of nature and duty* 
hath most care of your preservation and prosperity. " # 
The lord keeper, enlarging, by his majesty's direction, 
on the same topics, was yet more explicit. "This way," 
said he, "of parliamentary supplies, his majesty hath 
chosen, as he told you, not as the only way, but as the 
fittest ; not as destitute of others, but as most agreeable 
to the goodness of his own most gracious disposition, and 
to the desire and weal of his people. If this be deferred, 
necessity and the sword of the enemy make way for the 
others. Remember his majesty's admonition," added he 
emphatically; "I say, remember it."f 

To provide against counsels so undisguisedly displayed, 
the commons proceeded with the greatest temper and 
firmness. Too dignified to be moved by fear, and too 
independent to be swayed by the hopes of favour, they 
comprised the persons most distinguished in the nation 
for talents and influence ; and their collective property 
was computed to be equal to three times that of the house 
of peers. The grievances of which they had to complain, 
and which were neither chimerical nor longer supportable, 
gave rise to many energetic and eloquent harangues ; and 
Wentworth, among others, maintained that these arbitrary 
measures, the baneful effects of evil counsellors, were alike 
pernicious to the sovereign and the subject. 

" Surely," said he, " these illegal ways are punishments 
and marks of indignation. The raising of loans strength- 
ened by commission, with unheard of instructions and oaths, 
the billeting of soldiers by the lieutenants and their de- 
puties, have been as if they could have persuaded man- 
kind, that the right of empires had been to take away 
by strong hands ; and they have endeavoured, as far as 
possible for them, to do it. This hath not been done by 
the king, (under the pleasing shade of whose crown I hope 
* Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 476, 477- f Ibid, p. 470. 

T 2 



276 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

we shall ever gather the fruits of justice,) but by project- 
ors who have extended the prerogative of the king beyond 
the j ust symmetry, which maketh a sweet harmony of the 
whole. They have brought the crown into greater want 
than ever by anticipating the revenues : they have intro- 
duced a privy council, ravishing, at once, the spheres of 
all ancient government; destroying all liberty; impri- 
soning us without bail or bond. They have taken from 
us — what shall I say ? Indeed, what have they left us ? 
By tearing up the roots of all property, they have taken 
from us every means of supplying the king, and of in- 
gratiating ourselves by voluntary proofs of our duty and 
attachment. 

" To the making whole all these breaches, I shall apply 
myself; and to all these diseases, shall propound a reme- 
dy. By one and the same thing have the people been 
hurt, and by the same must they be cured. We must 
vindicate — what ? New things ? No ! — our ancient, legal, 
and vital liberties ; by reinforcing the laws enacted by our 
ancestors ; by setting such a seal on them as no licentious 
spirit shall hereafter dare to infringe. And shall we fear, 
by this proceeding, to put an end to parliament ? No ; 
our desires are modest and just, and equally for the in- 
terest of the king and the people. If we enj oy not these 
rights, it will be impossible for us to relieve him." # 

Amidst these discussions, the king having sent to the 
commons some specific propositions for supply, it was 
debated whether they or the redress of grievances should 
first be taken into consideration^ Wentworth strongly 
pressed that their grants should be preceded by redress. 
" I cannot," said he, " forget that duty I owe to my 
country : unless we be secured in our liberties, we cannot 
give." J Yet, after a short delay, the house, at the instance 
especially of Mr. Pym, unanimously voted a supply of five 
subsidies to his majesty. § 

* Rush worth, vol. i., p. 500. Frankly n, p. 343. 

t Rushworth, vol. i., p. 513. J Ibid, p. 521. § Ibid, p. 525. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 277 

When informed of this unexpected liberality, Charles 
was sensibly affected.* He had accustomed himself to 
look on the commons as the inveterate enemies of his 
power, as a clog on the motions of his government. Yet, 
amidst the loudest complaints of arbitrary measures, and 
their most bitter invectives against his obnoxious ministers, 
they had uniformly spoken of himself, not only with re- 
spect and loyalty, but with affection and esteem ; and, 
though exasperated by his menaces, they had now hasten- 
ed to remove those necessities which all his own authority 
had failed to relieve. When the gracious reception which 
he gave to this instance of their duty was reported to 
them, they showed a jealousy of his honour beyond all 
his servile courtiers ; and expressed their disappointment 
that the thanks of the Duke of Buckingham should be 
coupled with the approbation of their sovereign. f 

All those arbitrary invasions of persons and property, 
which now excited complaint, were expressly guarded 
against by many ancient statutes, never repealed, though 
often infringed by tyrannical monarchs. The commons 
resolved, therefore, merely to draw up a declaration recit- 
ing the substance of those existing laws, and hence de- 
nominated a Petition of Right. By procuring his majesty's 
explicit sanction to such a declaration, they would both 
point out to him the determinate constitutional limits of 
his authority ; and secure his observance of them for the 
future, if any laws were to be binding, or any faith placed 
in the word of a king. 

At these resolutions, which opposed fresh barriers to 
his new plan of government, Charles was alarmed. The 
statutes recounted in this petition of right had been enac- 
ted at distant periods ; and though never deemed obsolete, 
yet recent practice might be successfully opposed to anti- 
quated records. If he gave an express sanction to these 
claims of the subject, all the advantage which he derived 
from their distant origin would be annihilated ; nor could 
* Eushworth, vol i., p. 525. f Ibid, p. 526. 



278 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

he afterwards impose any arbitrary exaction, or punish the 
refractory, without incurring the charge of a direct viola- 
tion of faith. As it was inconvenient, however, to interrupt 
the proceedings of the commons by a prorogation or disso- 
lution, since the vote for five subsidies had not yet passed 
into a law ; he endeavoured to divert their attention by 
urging the necessity of instant supplies, by threatening a 
speedy termination to the session, and by giving his royal 
word that he would trench on none of their privileges 
which did not interfere with his prerogative. 

But the more reluctance his majesty discovered to sanc- 
tion their petition, the more necessary did it appear to 
insist on his compliance. If no intention existed to in- 
fringe the ancient statutes, why refuse to renew them? 
Were all the unauthorized stretches of royal authority to 
be considered as branches of the prerogative ? By such 
arguments, Wentworth, who now stood forward as one of 
the most active assertors of the public rights, prevailed 
on the house to resolve, " that grievances and supply 
should go hand in hand, and the latter, in no case, precede 
the former. " # When some proposed to rest satisfied with 
the king's assurances of future adherence to law, without 
pressing the petition of right, he strenuously opposed this 
dangerous remission. " There hath been," said he, " a 
public violation of the laws by his majesty's ministers; 
and nothing shall satisfy me but a public amends. Our 
desire to vindicate the subject's rights exceeds not what 
is laid down in former laws, with some modest provision 
for instruction and performance. "f When the lords pro- 
posed to add to the petition a saving clause, importing 
that all their pretensions for liberty still left entire the 
claims of the sovereign power, Wentworth exclaimed 
against the evasion. " If we do admit of this addition," 
said he, " we shall leave the subject in a worse state than 
we found him. Let us leave all power to his majesty to 
bring malefactors to legal punishment ; but our laws are 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 538, f Ibid, p. 554. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 279 

not acquainted with sovereign power. We desire no new 
thing, nor do we offer to trench on his majesty's prero- 
gative ; but we may not recede from this petition, either in 
whole or in part."* 

It was the peculiar felicity of Elizabeth, that she had 
the art to concede an untenable point with the same 
apparent ease and good humour as if she had yielded to 
no necessity. It was the misfortune of Charles, that his 
compliance, even when unavoidable, was so ungracious and 
reluctant, as to occasion almost as much discontent as a 
refusal. He expressed his assent to the petition of right, 
but in words so unusual and evasive, that the commons 
felt only an increase of their agitation; nor was it till 
he was alarmed by their reiterated remonstrances against 
abuses, and discovered their determination not to proceed 
with the bill of supplies, that he at length sanctioned the 
petition in the usual form.f Yet the commons repaid this 
long-delayed concession by immediately passing the bill of 
supplies, and by dissolving all the committees which they 
had appointed to investigate the abuses of government. 
They now proceeded to represent those existing grievances, 
which were particularly guarded against by the petition of 
right ; and to prosecute their charges against the Duke of 
Buckingham, as the chief author of pernicious counsels. 
But in passing the bill of supplies, they had for the pre- 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 563. 

t Mr. Hume says, " It may be affirmed, without any exaggeration^ 
that the king's assent to the petition of right produced such a change 
in the government, as was almost equivalent to a revolution ; and by 
circumscribing, in so many articles, the royal prerogative, gave addi- 
tional security to the liberties of the subject." What a pity he should 
not have mentioned some of the novelties which he imagined he had 
discovered in this petition ; if there exist any such, they certainly 
escaped both the parliament and the king. The lords and commons pro- 
fessed that the petition was merely the substance of certain ancient sta- 
tutes, nor was this allegation ever called in question by the court. The 
ancient statutes alluded to are either mentioned in the preamble, or 
cited in the margin. — See the petition in Rushworth's Collections, vol. i., 
p. 588. 



280 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

sent given up all hold on the forbearance of the crown. 
Alarmed at the danger of his favourite, and hearing that 
the commons were preparing a remonstrance against ton- 
nage and poundage, which constituted so large a portion 
of his revenue, but which, till granted by act of parlia- 
ment, fell clearly under the head of illegal exactions, 
Charles suddenly appeared in parliament, and ended the 
session by prorogation.* 

Although the court thus procured a temporary respite, 
the few months of recess were speedily to elapse, and the 
necessities of the state rendered the return of the evil 
inevitable. The preparations requisite to maintain the war 
against the French and Spaniards, would soon exhaust 
the supplies which had been granted, and the commons 
would doubtless recommence their labours where they had 
been forcibly interrupted. To break the force of opposi- 
tion by violently removing the more active members, had 
already been fountfl a vain attempt; it was now more 
wisely resolved to substitute promises for threats; and, 
by the numerous allurements in the power of the sove- 
reign, to convert some forward patriots into champions of 
the prerogative. In these circumstances no one more at- 
tracted their attention than Wentworth. He had already 
shown a willingness to engage in the service of the court, 
and had repaid its neglect by a bold, keen, and successful 
opposition. If he had displayed a decided animosity to 
Buckingham, it was by no means gratuitous, but had been 
amply purchased by the affronts with which the favourite 
had repaid his friendly assurances ; and that animosity 
which made his assistance less acceptable to the duke, 
also rendered his opposition more formidable. All these 
considerations in favour of Wentworth were strengthened 
by the good offices of his friend Weston, who had lately 
been raised to the office of lord high treasurer ; and who 
now repaid the confidence of his friend by a zealous 
patronage. "But it was not by empty overtures, or flatter- 
* Rush worth, vol. i., p. 631. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 281 

ing professions of the favourite, that Went worth, already 
deceived, was to be won from a party that yielded him 
honour by its esteem, and authority by its support. To 
the promise of an immediate place in the peerage, with 
the title of baron, the court added an assurance of speedy 
advancement to a higher rank, and to the presidency of 
the council of York. 

To these allurements Wentworth was by no means 
insensible. Early introduced into courts, he had been 
accustomed to witness the slavish submission ever paid 
to titles, to power, and to royal favour, however abu- 
sed, however unmerited. A profuse distribution of ho- 
nours had, of late years, much diminished the estimation 
of nobility; yet, when coupled with authority, and the 
smiles of the sovereign, they still possessed charms to 
stimulate the ambitious. The presidency of the coun- 
cil of York held forth yet more powerful temptations. 
It conferred on him an authority almost absolute over 
the northern counties, over his former equals, over those 
adversaries who had hitherto harassed and thwarted him. 

The favourable reception given by Wentworth to the 
overtures of the court was followed by farther acts of 
royal condescension. His friend and confidant Wandes- 
ford, though lately distinguished by the violence of his 
opposition, and employed by the commons in framing the 
articles of impeachment against Buckingham, # was also 
received into favour. The powers of the northern presi- 
dency, already beyond the limits of a legal jurisdiction, 
were further enlarged, when consigned to their new 
possessor. If his ambition was thus gratified, his vanity 
was not less powerfully assailed by the patent of barony, 
in which a claim he advanced to an alliance with the 
blood royal, through Margaret, grandmother to Henry the 
Seventh, was ostentatiously acknowledged, and displayed 
as a ground for his new honours. These favours, thus 
* Rushworth, vol. i., pp. 214, 352. 



282 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

simultaneously showered on him, seem to have produced 
all the desired impression, and to have called forth his 
warmest expressions of exultation and gratitude. " You 
tell me," writes his friend Wandesford, " that God hath 
blessed you much in these late proceedings."* 

To these grounds of exultation, there existed a great 
drawback in the capricious temper of Buckingham. 
Though an apparent reconciliation had taken place be- 
tween them, yet Wentworth had no reason to hope for the 
good will, or even the permanent forbearance, of the 
favourite. The feelings of his grace had indeed been 
soothed by the previous elevation to the peerage of Sir 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i ., p. 49. Unfortunately for the memory 
of Wentworth, his admirers, anxious to render him more than man, have 
abandoned the plea which humanity affords to palliate his defects ; and. 
by attempting to violate the truth of history, have exposed his conduct 
to additional odium. The author of the dedication to his Letters, who 
has in this instance been followed by all his professed advocates, has 
undertaken to show that Wentworth was, in fact, guilty of no incon- 
sistency. "Sir Edward Coke," says that author, "might have his 
particular disgust, Sir John Elliot his warmth, Mr. Selden his prejudices 
to the bishops and clergy, and others farther designs on the constitution 
itself, which might cause them to carry on their opposition. But Sir 
Thomas Wentworth, who was a true friend to episcopal government of 
the church, and to a limited monarchy in the state, could have no reason, 
when the petition of right was granted, to refuse to bear his share of toils and 
pains in the service of the public, or to withstand the offers of those 
honours." This unfortunate plea only serves to fix our attention on 
some of the most questionable parts of Wentworth's conduct. His new 
honours had not yet been worn, when the petition of right was already 
violated ; the very office which he accepted, and still more the new 
powers with which he was entrusted, could not be exercised without its 
farther violation ; and we shall have too often to recount his active 
invasion of those very rights which the petition was formed to secure. 
Mr. Hurne, a far more dexterous advocate, while he strives to leave on 
the minds of his readers the most favourable impression of this states- 
man, obviates suspicion, in this instance, by a frank acknowledgment 
of the truth. " His fidelity to the king," says this historian, " was 
unshaken ; but as he now employed all his counsels to support the pre- 
rogative which he had formerly bent all his powers to diminish, his 
virtue seems not to have been entirely pure, but to have been susceptible 
of strong impressions from private interest and ambition." 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 283 

John Savile, the ancient and implacable antagonist of 
Wentworth ; still, however, there were old misunderstand- 
ings, which Buckingham was not of a temper to forget, or 
to leave unresented. # But from these apprehensions the 
friends of Wentworth were unexpectedly relieved by the 
hand of a gloomy fanatic, who had brought himself to 
look on Buckingham as the great enemy of his country, 
and to regard this as a sufficient justification for the never 
justifiable crime of assassination.^ 

But there still remained an enemy more formidable, and 
not less irritated, than Buckingham. The sudden defec- 
tion of Wentworth from his party excited astonishment 
among all men; J and, when conjoined with some invidious 
circumstances, changed the general applause which he 
had hitherto enjoyed into reproach and menaces. His 
affectation of an alliance to the blood-royal excited ridi- 
cule ; his desertion of a cause for which he had ardently 
contended, his adoption of principles which he had stre- 
nuously opposed, his reconciliation with Buckingham 
whom he had branded as a traitor to his king and coun- 
try, with his acceptance of an office whose existence 
was a violation both of the common and statute laws of 
the realm, were regarded with resentment and indignation. 

On re-assembling after the prorogation, the parliament 
found, to their mortification, that their former labours had 
only provoked an increase of abuses. They discovered 
that, to the printed copies of the petition of right, the 
evasive, and not the satisfactory reply of the king, had, 
by royal authority, been appended ;§ that all the clergy 
whom they had prosecuted for promulgating the doctrines 
of despotism, and innovations in religion, had received his 
majesty's pardon ;|| that one of these, Montague, had 
been promoted to the see of Chichester;^! that another, 
Manwaring, in contempt of a sentence by the house of 

* Clarendon, vol. i-, p. 49. t Ibid, p. 27- 

I Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 47- Epistolae Hoellianse, xxxiv. 

§ Rushworth, vol. i., p. G43. || Ibid, p. 653. f Ibid, p. 635. 



284 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

peers, had been restored to his ecclesiastical functions, 
and rewarded with some lucrative benefices ; # that, in 
direct violation of the petition of right, the king had, of his 
sole authority, levied imposts on exports and imports ;f 
and that the merchants who refused to pay these arbi- 
trary exactions, had been punished with the imprisonment 
of their persons, and the seizure of their goods. J 

Against these invasions of the petition of right, his 
majesty told the commons that their remedy was short : 
that, by passing an act confirming to him the duties which 
he had levied by his own authority, all grounds of com- 
plaint would be removed ; and that, on this condition, he 
waived the claim of right, and would receive these taxes 
as their grant.§ The commons expressed no unwillingness 
to concede these duties ; but they thought it reasonable 
that the king, after having so directly violated the sanc- 
tion which he had given to the petition of right, should 
first return the goods illegally seized, and stop the prose- 
cutions which the attorney-general had commenced against 
the owners. || Unless this were done, a future monarch 
might assert, that they had only given what they had no 
right to withhold ; that their office was to confirm, not to 
question the levying of these duties ; and that the petition 
of right was of no avail in opposition to the claims of the 
sovereign. But Charles, far from temporizing, persisted, 
in the face of parliament, to levy the disputed imposts, to 
seize the goods of the refractory, and to institute prosecu- 
tions against them.^f When some loyal persons, anxious 
to prevent the breach so rapidly approaching, endeavoured 
to represent these violent proceedings as the unauthorized 
acts of the crown officers, Charles had the spirit or temerity 
to disclaim the subterfuge, to avow that his officers acted 
by his express commands ; and to declare, that anyjrepre- 
hension of them he should consider as a direct attack on 

* liushworth, vol. i., p. 635. f Ibid, p. 689. 

t Ibid, pp. 641, 642. § Ibid, p. 644. |j Ibid, p. 654. 

H Ibid, pp. 653, 654. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 285 

himself.* The commons, alarmed at these pretensions, 
began to deplore the renewed danger of their liberties ; to 
lament that, though Buckingham was no more, his coun- 
sels still survived ; and that the Lord Treasurer Weston, 
now chief minister, zealously trod in the steps of his 
predecessor. f But to these complaints his majesty put 
an end, by an adjournment so sudden, that the commons 
were enabled to draw up a remonstrance against tonnage 
and poundage, only by shutting their door against the 
king's messenger, and forcibly retaining the speaker in the 
chair.;}; A few days after, parliament was dissolved with 
marks of studied neglect ;§ the king, in his parting speech, 
branded the more active members with the appellation of 
vipers, and even committed several of them to prison. || 

Freed, by this angry dissolution, from the hostility of 
his former associates, Wentworth could now repay the 
bounty of his sovereign, by a zealous support of his fa- 
vourite plan of government. The council of York, or of 
the North, was peculiarly suited to the genius of an abso- 
lute monarchy. The forms of administering justice had 
been the same in the four northern counties as in the rest 
of England, till the thirty-first year of Henry VIII. (1541), 
when an insurrection, attended with much bloodshed and 
disorder, induced that monarch to grant a commission of 
Oyer and Terminer to the archbishop of York, with some 
lawyers and gentlemen of that county, for the purpose of 
investigating the grounds of the outrages, and bringing 
the malefactors to punishment. % The good effects of the 
commission, in restoring tranquillity, caused it to be pro- 

* Rushworth, vol. i., p. 6-59. The king's declaration. 

f Ibid, p. 659. + Ibid, p. 660. § Ibid. 

|| They were detained many years in prison, because they refused 
to pay large fines and make a submission. Sir John Elliot died in 
confinement. 

% The jurisdiction ot this commission extended over the counties of 
York, Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, the bishopric 
of Durham, the cities of York, Hull, and Newcastle-on-Tyne.— Rush- 
worth, vol. i., p. 162. 



286 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

longed ; and on the re-appearance of commotions in those 
quarters, it was, in succeeding times frequently renewed. 
A permanent abuse gradually arose out of a simple expe- 
dient. Elizabeth, and after her James, found it convenient 
to alter the tenour of the commission, to increase the sphere 
of its jurisdiction, and to augment its circumscribed legal 
authority by certain discretionary powers. And to such 
an ascendancy was this court raised, by the enlarged in- 
structions granted to Wentworth, that the council of York 
now engrossed the whole jurisdiction of the four northern 
counties, and embraced the powers of the courts of com- 
mon law, the chancery, and even the exorbitant authority 
of the Star-chamber. # Yet Wentworth still felt his autho- 
rity too circumscribed, and twice applied for an enlarge- 
ment of its boundaries. f 

The vast power thus committed to his hands, Went- 
worth successfully employed in the cause of the crown. 
Abandoning all his former recreations, and devoting him- 
self wholly to business, he speedily reformed what the 
remissness of his predecessor had deranged. He caused 
the militia to be embodied and disciplined, and by vigor- 
ously enforcing the fines on recusants, the compositions 
for knighthood, and the other exactions imposed by go- 
vernment, he quickly succeeded in raising the revenue of 
the king, within his jurisdiction, to four or five times its 
former amount. J 

There seems little ground for the charge, afterwards 
preferred against him, that he had exceeded the bounds of 
his commission ; since it would be difficult to assign any 
limits to his authority. We find him represented by the 
popish recusants as proceeding against them " with extreme 
rigour, valuing the goods and lands of the poorest at the 

* See the speech of Mr. Hyde, afterwards Lord Clarendon, in Rush- 
worth's Collections, vol. ii., p. 162. Also ibid, p. 158. 

t Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, vol. i., pp. 239, 240. 

X Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 00. He states that he had raised the 
revenue from 2,000/. to 9.500/. a-year. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 287 

highest rates, or rather above the value ; and refusing, on 
any other terms, to admit them to a composition.* This 
complaint, however, was disbelieved by the Treasurer 
Weston, to whom it was addressed ;f and the conduct of 
Wentworth, in regard to recusants, received the unquali- 
fied approbation of a court by no means inclined to treat 
them with rigour. t It was with more justice that he was 
accused of exceeding the limits of his jurisdiction, when 
he caused a person to be arrested in London for offences 
against his court ; and refused to regard the prohibitions 
of the judges. § These and other irregularities were sanc- 
tioned by government : but it was impossible to justify 
either his procuring or exercising a commission, that, in 
the words of Clarendon, " placed the northern counties 
entirely beyond the protection of the common law ; that 
included fifty-eight instructions, of which scarcely one did 
not exceed or directly violate the common law ; and that, 
by its natural operation, had almost overwhelmed the coun- 
try under the sea of arbitrary power, and involved the peo- 
ple in a labyrinth of distemper, oppression, and poverty. "|| 
The unpopularity incurred by Wentworth in the dis- 
charge of this office proceeded chiefly from two causes, — 
from his sudden change of party, and from a natural vehe- 
mence of temper which new circumstances rendered more 
conspicuous. If, in his early youth, he had betrayed some 
indications of a disposition impetuous, overbearing, and 
vindictive, these turbulent symptoms, soothed by the 
tranquillity of a private station, and meeting with but 
trivial excitements, had yielded to the influence of a sound 
and vigorous judgment. But now, exasperated by the 
censure of opponents, elevated by the applause of friends, 
and stimulated by the possession of uncontrouled power, 
the passions of Wentworth at times burst forth with unex- 
pected violence. He procured respect for his power by 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 52. f Ibid. J Ibid, p. 51. 

§ Ruslnvorth, vol. ii., pp. 159, 160. 

|| See Lord Clarendon's Report in Rushworth, vol. ii., pp. 162—164. 



288 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

causing it to be felt, and silenced opposition by the activity 
of his vengeance. His prosecution of Henry Bellasis, son 
to Lord Faulconberg, betrayed a punctilious apprehension 
of encroachment on his consequence, which can scarcely be 
reconciled with true dignity of mind. # On another occa- 
sion, Wentworth, having caused a delinquent to kneel 
before him, expressed much displeasure at this act of 
humiliation not being sufficiently protracted. -f His vin- 
dictive prosecution of Sir David Foulis merits a more 
severe censure. The charges presented against this man, 
in the Star-chamber, were some disrespectful mention of 
the council of York, some invidious insinuations against its 
president, with his instigation of some persons not to pay 
the composition for knighthood, which he considered as an 
illegal and oppressive exaction. At the repeated instance 
of Wentworth, who urged his signal punishment as a warn- 
ing to others,;}: Foulis was degraded from his offices of 

* This young nobleman was charged before the privy council with hav- 
ing come into a room, at a public meeting, without showing any parti- 
cular reverence to the lord president ; and with having aggravated the 
offence, by keeping his hat immoveably fixed on his head, when his lord- 
ship, in state, departed from the assembly. Bellasis' pleaded that his 
negligence arose solely from accident ; that he had never been guilty of 
intentional disrespect ; and that, having his face turned the other way, 
he was not aware of his lordship's approach till he had passed. It was 
not, however, till after a month's imprisonment, and a written acknow- 
ledgment of his contrition, that this apology was accepted. — Rushworth, 
vol. ii., p. 88. 

f Tbid, p, 160. 

t Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 91, 145, 146, 189. In a letter to Secretary 
Cottington, (p. 145,) he says, " The sentencing this man settles the right 
of knighting business bravely for the crown : for, in your sentence, you 
will certainly declare the undoubted prerogatives the king hath therein 
by common law, by statute law, and the undeniable practice of all times," 
" 1 protest to God," he adds, " if it were in the person of another, I 
should in a case so foul, and with proof so clear, fine the father and the 
son in two thousand pounds a-piece to his majesty, and the same to me 
for the scandal, besides open acknowledgments." The earnestness with 
which he expresses his thankfulness to his friends in the privy council, 
who had promoted the sentence, shows how acceptable a service they had 
rendered him.— Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 189, 194, 202. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 289 

deputy-lieutenant, justice of the peace, and member of the 
council of York : he was fined five thousand pounds to the 
king, three thousand to Lord Wentworth, and committed 
to the Fleet prison during his majesty's pleasure. His 
son, who had partaken in the offence, was also imprisoned, 
and fined five hundred pounds to the king. # 

From the presidency of the council of York, Wentworth 
was speedily called to serve the crown in a more extended 
sphere. Though Charles, on the death of Buckingham, 
had formed a resolution never again to consign himself so 
completely into the hands of another favourite, it was soon 
apparent that Bishop Laud retained much of his patron's 
influence. Till his fiftieth year, Laud had lived immured 
in the seclusion of a college, distinguished only for the 
singularity of his notions, his frequent controversies, and 
the pertinacious ardour with which he maintained his the- 
ological opinions. Brought at length into the notice of 
ecclesiastics of influence, he was introduced to Bucking- 
ham ; and succeeded so completely in gaining the good 
will of the favourite, that he was received into his inmost 
confidence, and became his principal adviser. The career 
of his promotion was for some time retarded by King James, 
who looked with suspicion on his religious principles ; but 
the ascendancy of Buckingham over Charles easily removed 
these obstacles ; and Laud, after passing through some 
inferior sees, was created bishop of London, and enabled 
to lift his eyes to the primacy. Deriving, from his long 
researches among the ecclesiastical writers of the dark 
ages, a profound veneration for superstitious ceremonies, 
and an exalted opinion of ecclesiastical power, he pro- 
posed, as the grand object of his ambition, to reinstate the 
prelacy in its former ascendancy, to adorn the church of 
England with the mysterious rites of Catholicism, and to 
extend his power and his tenets over every part of the king- 
dom. Impatient to execute his designs, and regardless of 
circumstances, it was to him no obstacle that an approxi- 
* See their trials in Rushworth, vol. ii., pp. 215 — 220. 
U 



290 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

mation to the church of Rome was almost universally 
regarded with abhorrence ; that the tide of popular opinion 
ran directly against him ; and that the power of the sove- 
reign, already shaken, must be endangered to its founda- 
tion by enforcing such innovations. His maxim was " to 
go through" with his purposes, and to leave consequences 
to futurity. Irritable by nature, and jealous of his dig- 
nity, he had become, by the possession of power, incapable 
of enduring contradiction, and disdainful of all arts of con- 
ciliation ; and while he gratified Charles by exalting the 
royal authority to the utmost, he took care that his own 
order should occupy the highest steps of the throne.* 

With this man, who now possessed such influence with 
the king, Wentworth had the address to form a firm and 
intimate connexion. Laud had sufficient opportunity to 
observe the talents and vigour of the president of the 
North, and soon found reason to depend on his zealous 
co-operation. Next to these in the royal favour stood the 
Marquis of Hamilton ; and each soon found an appropriate 
place in the plan of government, which the new counsels 
of Charles induced him to adopt. Having removed his 
most urgent necessities, by the conclusion of peace with 
France and Spain, he now set himself in good earnest 
to establish his independent authority. But as England, 
Scotland, and Ireland had each their separate interests, 
their peculiar discontents, he found it convenient to con- 
sign a portion of his dominions to the particular superin- 
tendence of each minister. Laud, along with the supreme 
control of religion throughout the empire, obtained the 
chief direction of English affairs ; Hamilton managed the 
business of Scotland ; and Wentworth, with the title of 
lord deputy, obtained the government of Ireland.^ 

* Burnet's History of his own Times, vol. i., pp. 67, 68. Clarendon, 
Hist, of Reb. vol. i., p. 65. Archbishop Abbot's Narrative in Rush- 
worth, vol. i., p. 440. Laud's Diary. 

t Rushworth's Preface to vol. ii. RadclifFe's Essay. Strafford's Let- 
ters, vol. i. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 291 

If this new station brought Wentworth an accession of 
dignity, it called for the exertion of all his prudence, 
dexterity, and resolution. The conquest of Ireland, under- 
taken by the unjustifiable ambition of Henry the Second, 
had been feebly prosecuted by his successors. Presenting 
few temptations to ambition, and still fewer to avarice, it 
was, for the most part, abandoned to such desperate ad- 
venturers as were willing to purchase uncultivated pos- 
sessions by a perilous struggle with the natives. The 
English settlements extended only to a few districts 
around Dublin, and the rest of the country was abandoned 
to the uncivilized Irish, who, issuing from their morasses 
and fortresses, occasionally retaliated the devastations of 
their oppressors. Instead of communicating their more 
improved habits, the English settlers, engaged in a con- 
tinual warfare, contracted the ferocious manners of the 
Irish ; and could at length be distinguished only by their 
language, and their inveterate antipathy to the natives. 
The salutary customs of the invaders were wholly lost to 
Ireland, and the edicts introducing their laws disregarded. 
Parliaments, composed entirely of delegates from within 
the English Pale, and summoned at the discretion of the 
lord deputy, were employed as the best means to sanction 
every act of oppression, and screen the offender from 
punishment. 

These disorders had been in some measure alleviated 
by the wholesome regulations introduced by Sir Edward 
Poynings, who governed Ireland in the reign of Henry 
the Seventh. By his influence, the Irish parliament de- 
creed that all the laws hitherto enacted in England should 
be equally in force in Ireland. And, as the discretionary 
power which the lords-lieutenant possessed, of summon- 
ing parliaments at pleasure, and passing what measures 
they desired, had given rise to excessive abuses and loud 
complaints, he caused it to be enacted that a parliament 
should not be summoned above once a-year in Ireland, 
nor even then till the propositions on which it was to de- 

u2 



292 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

cide had been seen and approved by the privy council 
of England.* But by the native Irish these advantages 
were unfelt and unregarded. Exasperated by the harsh 
and wanton insults of their invaders, they had contracted 
an unusual ferocity of manners ; and being accounted un- 
worthy of the rights of humanity, they had almost ceased 
to retain the character of men. Abandoning cultivation, 
they enjoyed, amidst their fastnesses, the pride of savage 
independence, and looked down with disdain on the more 
civilized habits of the English. Their scattered tribes, 
without arms, without discipline, and without concert, 
were unable to expel even the feeble settlements of their 
adversaries, and possessed just sufficient force to cover 
the frontier with alarm, rapine, and bloodshed. 

Towards the conclusion of Elizabeth's reign, the mis- 
management of the English governors, and the secret aids 
of arms and officers from Spain, enabled the native chiefs 
to form such extensive insurrections, as obliged the queen 
to think seriously of completing their subjugation. Various 
attempts were made by Essex and others, without success ; 
but Lord Montjoy at length penetrated into the heart of 
the Irish retreats, took their castles, dispersed their pre- 
datory bands, and established detachments for the sup- 
pression of future disorders. He closed his vigorous and 
honourable administration with emancipating the whole 
body of Irish peasantry from subjection to their native 
chiefs, and receiving them under the immediate protection 
of government. f 

With a judgment which reflects more honour on the 
memory of King James than all his other measures, that 
monarch resolved to give effect to the plan so happily 
conceived. Large tracts of waste country which remained, 
by conquest or forfeiture, in the hands of the crown, were 
parcelled out in moderate divisions, and distributed among 
new settlers from England and Scotland. By their ex- 
ample, it was hoped, that the ancient inhabitants, now 
* Leland's Hist, of Ireland, edit. 1773, vol. ii., pp. 107, 511. t Ibid, 416. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 293 

compelled to desist from their predatory warfare, would 
gradually be initiated in the arts and manners of civilized 
life. The rude customs of the Irish were now discounte- 
nanced ; the laws of England every where enforced ; 
courts of judicature, after the model of the English, esta- 
blished ; and representatives from every quarter of the 
kingdom summoned to parliament.* 

Had the prosecution of this plan corresponded to its 
auspicious commencement, Ireland might have quickly 
approached the mother country in civilization. But va- 
rious abuses and accidents intervened to impede its pro- 
gress. Many of those who undertook to settle the new 
plantations, executed their contract slowly and imperfectly ; 
yet the king, charmed with the partial benefits resulting 
from his measures, became an enthusiast in the scheme of 
plantation. Not content with distributing all the lands in 
the actual possession of the crown, he encouraged adven- 
turers to discover flaws in the titles of old proprietors ; and 
had the injustice to make room for these informers, by 
dispossessing the owners of estates, for defects in their 
tenures, as old as the original conquest of Ireland. The 
success of these interested discoverers now spread alarm 
and indignation throughout the island, while every one 
trembled lest some unknown and obsolete claim of the 
crown should suddenly drive him from the inheritance of 
his father s.f 

The despotic maxims of government, introduced under 
Charles I. in England, soon extended their unhappy influence 
to the sister kingdom. The courts of common law began 
to find their jurisdiction invaded by the arbitrary decrees 
of the privy council. The rights of juries were infringed ; 
the extortions, which the English people suffered from an 
ill-paid soldiery, were still more severely felt in Ireland ; 
and the execution of martial law, which here also was 
introduced, was attended with still greater abuses.^ 

The discontents arising from these circumstances were 

* Leland, vol. ii., pp. 429 to 450. f Ibid, 466, 463. J Ibid, 470. 



294 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

embittered by theological discord. From the introduction 
of Protestantism by Queen Elizabeth, religious zeal had 
mingled with the political animosity of the Irish; and, 
though not the cause, had often been the pretext of their 
insurrections.* The popish clergy inflamed the bigotry 
of an ignorant people ; the old English settlers of the Pale 
were not less zealous than the native Irish for the faith of 
their forefathers ; and the penalties now enforced against 
recusants were equally odious to all. On the other hand, 
the new planters, whom James introduced from England 
and Scotland, carried along with them the tenets of the 
presbyterians and puritans, all their antipathy to the Ca- 
tholics, and all their dislike to a religious ceremonial. 
The rigour of the church courts, and the exaction of tithes, 
formed great aggravations of these discontents, f 

Lord Falkland, whom Charles had appointed lord 
deputy, found the hands of goveVnment too weak to chas- 
tise the seditious and disorderly. The armed force of 
Ireland had been allowed to dwindle to thirteen hundred 
and fifty foot, and two hundred horse : the companies into 
which this insignificant body was divided were commanded 
by privy counsellors, who took care to secure the pay out 
of the receipts of the exchequer, and compounded with 
the privates for a third or fourth part of the government 
allowance. The privates, who were often the menial 
servants of the officers, possessed neither the appearance 
nor the spirit of soldiers, and excited only contempt among 
the turbulent inhabitants. J 

The embarrassments of the English government, and an 
annual deficiency of the Irish revenue, prevented Charles 
from listening to the repeated demands of Falkland for an 
increase of the army. At length, however, he resolved to 
augment his Irish forces to five thousand foot and five 
hundred horse ; and, to prevent this new charge from fall- 
ing on his exhausted treasury, he commanded them to be 
quartered on the different towns and counties, each of 

* Leland, vol. ii. p. 412. f Ibid, p. 481. X Ibid, pp. 471, 472. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 295 

which was, for three months in turn, to receive a certain 
portion of the troops, and supply them with pay, clothes, 
and subsistence.* 

The people of Ireland, informed of this purpose, re- 
solved, by a liberal voluntary contribution, to avert the 
vexatious imposition, and to procure the redress of their 
most prominent grievances. The Catholics, who had most 
to apprehend from the execution of the existing penal 
statutes, were the first movers in this plan ; and the Pro- 
testants had sufficient grounds to concur heartily in the 
proposal. By permission of Lord Falkland, delegates from 
both parties passed over to London, and laid their offers 
and their requests at the foot of the throne. For the 
maintenance of the troops they offered a voluntary con- 
tribution of one hundred thousand pounds, to be paid by 
instalments of ten thousand pounds a-quarter ; a far larger 
sum than had hitherto been obtained from the poverty of 
Ireland. The graces, or concessions, which they demanded 
in return, were extremely moderate. They related to 
certain abuses arising from barbarous manners and a de- 
fective police; to exactions in the courts of justice; depre- 
dations committed by the soldiery ; monopolies in trade ; 
penal statutes on account of religion; retrospective inqui- 
ries into defective titles, beyond a period of sixty years : 
and while relief from these grievances was prayed, they 
desired the confirmation of the concession by an Irish par- 
liament, f The last two articles were by no means accep- 
table to Charles. He had formed a design to augment 
his revenue, and gratify his courtiers, by the discovery 
of ancient flaws in the titles of the present proprietors ; 
and to grant a parliament to Ireland was a conspicuous 
departure from that plan of government which he was 
attempting to consolidate in England. His necessities, 
however, were urgent, the contribution opportune; he 
therefore judged it expedient to give, for the present, his 
unreserved assent to all the demands. 

* Leland, vol. ii., p. 480. t Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 320. 



296 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

The joy diffused over Ireland by these concessions was 
soon allayed by suspicions of the, king's sincerity. Lord 
Falkland, when informed of the royal sanction, hastened 
to gratify the people by issuing writs for a parliament ; 
but by a strange omission, these writs proved altogether 
invalid. According to the law of Poynings, explained 
and ratified by subsequent statutes, # no parliament could 
be summoned in Ireland, till a certificate of the laws to 
be proposed in it, with the reasons for enacting them, 
should first be transmitted by the deputy and council to 
England, and his majesty's licence under the great seal 
be obtained for holding it.f As Falkland, without attend- 
ing to these essential forms, had, by his own authority, 
issued the writs, they were, by the English council, de- 
clared null and void. J This irregularity was suspected to 
proceed from some collusion between Falkland and the 
court of England ; and as no steps were taken to repair 
an error so easily amended, it became evident that the 
meeting of a parliament was intentionally delayed. § 

The imprudence of the Catholics threatened also to 
involve Ireland in domestic broils. Elevated by their 
favourable reception at court, and confident of the queen's 
protection, they beheld, in the late concessions, the earnest 
of a complete victory, which seemed due to their superior 
numbers, and still more to the imagined verity of their 
creed. Churches were seized for their worship ; the streets 
of Dublin thronged with their processions ; an academy 
erected for the religious instruction of their youth ; and 
their clergy reinforced by swarms of young priests from 
the seminaries of France and Spain. || By these transac- 
tions, both the Protestants and the English government 
had reason to be alarmed ; since the clergy, who entirely 
led the people, universally maintained the pope's supre- 
macy, and had bound themselves to labour for the propa- 
gation of the faith, and the extirpation of heretics. If 

* 3d and 4th Phil, and Mary, f Rushworth, vol. ii., p. 20. J Ibid, 19. 
§ Leland, vol. ii., p. 486. " |] Ibid, vol. iii., p. 3. f Ibid, p. 4. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 297 

Roused by the loud remonstrances of the Protestants, 
Falkland at length issued a proclamation prohibiting the 
Romish clergy from exercising a control over the people, 
and from celebrating their worship in public. * This edict, 
strongly expressed but feebly enforced, served only to 
incense the Catholics without satisfying the Protestants. 
The recusants complained that the promised graces were 
withheld ; and now represented, as an insupportable bur- 
den, that voluntary contribution which, at first, they had 
so cheerfully paid. In vain did government endeavour to 
appease their discontents by consenting to accept the con- 
tribution by instalments of five, instead of ten thousand 
pounds a-quarter : the general clamour, unjustly directed 
against Lord Falkland, became so loud as at length to 
procure his recall, f 

The temporary administration, on which the manage- 
ment of affairs now devolved, was still more obnoxious 
to the Catholics. The two lords justices, Viscount Ely 
and the Earl of Cork, the former lord chancellor and the 
latter lord high treasurer of Ireland, were zealous anti- 
Catholics ; and, without waiting for orders from England, 
proceeded to a rigorous execution of the penal statutes 
against the recusants. The latter derived a temporary 
courage from an intimation of the royal displeasure at 
these proceedings ; but, having come to open blows with 
the Protestants, they had the mortification to witness the 
suppression of the academy and religious houses, which 
they had erected in Dublin.^ 

To the difficulties thus caused to the government, was 
added the embarrassing consideration that the voluntary 
contribution was soon to terminate. The Irish, exaspera- 
ted by the evasion of the promised concessions, were not 
likely to continue their voluntary supplies ; and it seemed 
a desperate attempt for a divided government, with a 
feeble army, to enforce compulsory exactions. Yet it was 
* Rush worth, vol. ii., p. 21. f Leland, vol. ii., pp. 5, 6. 

t Leland, vol. iii., pp. 0, 7, 8. 



298 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

impossible for the court of England, pressed by its aggra- 
vated necessities, to defray the expense of an augmented 
army in Ireland ; and some prompt and decisive measures 
seemed requisite to prevent that distracted island from 
becoming, not only useless, but dangerous to the monarchy. 
Such was the situation of affairs when Wentworth was 
appointed to the administration of Ireland. 

Although he received his commission at the commence- 
ment of 1632, it was not till July in the following year 
that he was able to reach the place of his destination. The 
arrangements for his private affairs, and for the adminis- 
tration of his presidency in his absence, occupied a con- 
siderable time. And when all these were completed, he 
was still delayed some months for the arrival of a man of 
war from the Thames ; for, strange as it may now appear, 
so dangerously was the Irish Channel infested with pirates, 
that Wentworth could not venture to pass over without 
convoy.* 

But, during this interval, the lord deputy was not inac- 
tive. He carefully informed himself of the state of his 
new government, planned the measures of his future ad- 
ministration, and ascertained the powers necessary to give 
efficiency to his authority.^ He also gave his serious 
attention to the most difficult of all departments, — the 
raising of supplies. The voluntary contribution was now 
paid up, and it was indispensable, either by its renewal or 
by some other method, to procure resources for the main- 
tenance of the army till his arrival in Ireland. But the 
lords justices, on being applied to, declared it as their 
decided opinion, that there were no other means of supply 
than that of rigorously levying the penalties imposed by 
statute on the Catholics for absence from public worship. 
Wentworth was averse to an expedient which he knew to 
be unacceptable to the English court, and calculated to 
excite bitter discontent among the Catholics. He resolved, 
if possible, to procure a continuance of the voluntary con- 
* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 85, 87- t Ibid, pp. 61—93. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 299 

tribution ; and, in the letter of the lords j ustices, he found 
an expedient to alarm the Catholics into compliance. By 
his direction, the king wrote to the lords justices, bitterly 
complaining of the evils which they had represented, the 
impossibility of raising voluntary supplies, and the neces- 
sity of levying the penalties. " If this indeed be the case, 
I must/' adds the king, " as you advise, streighten the 
graces which I have granted; and, rather than let the 
army loose on the inhabitants, take advantage of my legal 
rights and profits."* 

While awaiting the effect of this letter, Wentworth 
despatched to Ireland a Catholic agent, to represent to his 
brethren the lord deputy's regard for their interests, his 
willingness to act as mediator between them and the king, 
and his hopes that a moderate voluntary contribution 
would be accepted as a substitute for their heavy fines.f 
Having discovered that his temporary representatives, the 
lords justices, were seeking to counteract his purposes, he 
reprimanded their presumption in such terms as made 
them anxious to avoid, by any sacrifice, the resentment of 
so peremptory a governor.^ Alarmed and silenced by 
these dexterous measures, all parties agreed to enlarge 
their voluntary contribution, by four additional quarterly 
payments of five thousand pounds each ; and Wentworth 
was thus enabled to mature, without embarrassment, his 
plans for a permanent revenue. 

The grand objects proposed by the lord deputy were to 
render the king's power completely uncontroulable in 
Ireland; to derive from her a revenue sufficient both to 
support her own expenditure, and to aid the treasury of 
England; and thus, by every expedient, to render the 
province advantageous to the crown. Schemes he had for 
enriching Ireland, and plans for promoting her civilization; 
but, " in all these affairs," writes he to the king, " the 
benefit of the crown must and shall be my principal, nay, 
my sole end."§ 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. L, p. 71. f Ibid, p. 74. 

X Ibid, pp. 76, 77- § Ibid, p. 342. 



300 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

The king had allowed Wentworth full discretion to 
draw up his plan of governing, and the conditions for 
which he stipulated discover no less sagacity than am- 
bition. Never was a monarch more beset by rapacious 
courtiers : already had they procured the reversion of the 
most valuable offices in Ireland; and it was not to be 
doubted that the Irish treasury, if anywise enriched, 
would become the object of their watchful avarice. Went- 
worth therefore provided, in the first article of his instruc- 
tions, that his majesty should bestow no grant on the 
Irish establishment before the ordinary revenue of the 
crown in that country should be equal to its charges, and 
its debts fully cleared. To secure the patronage necessary 
to the influence of the governor, he made farther and 
more important stipulations, viz. — 

That none of the grants already given for the reversion 
of offices in Ireland should be confirmed, and none for the 
future bestowed. 

That no grant, of what nature soever, relative to Ireland, 
should be suffered to pass till it were first made known to 
the deputy, and sanctioned by the seal of that kingdom. 

That no person should be appointed a bishop, a judge, 
a privy counsellor, or a law officer of any description in 
Ireland, till his majesty had first consulted with the deputy. 

That the same rule should be observed before any new 
office were created in that kingdom. 

That the places usually in the deputy's gift, both civil 
and military, should be freely left to his own disposal, and 
not granted by his majesty to the importunity of any can- 
didate in England. 

And that no particular complaint of injustice or oppres- 
sion, against any person in Ireland, should be admitted 
at the English court, unless it appeared that the party 
aggrieved had first addressed himself to the deputy. 

A committee of the English privy council had been set 
apart for the consideration of Irish affairs : but, to ensure 
secrecy, and prevent obstructions, it was now provided 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 301 

that all propositions from the deputy, relative to the re- 
venue, might be communicated exclusively to his friend 
the lord treasurer, and his other despatches addressed 
solely to Secretary Coke. # 

In these ample instructions, Wentworth, before his de- 
parture from England, procured such alterations as he 
judged expedient,-j~ with this remarkable addition, that he 
was to consider them as changeable on the spot, whenever 
the advancement of his majesty's affairs required. J He 
received the fullest assurance that, in all his measures, 
the king would avow and support him.§ 

Of these vast discretionary powers, he afterwards pro- 
cured such specific confirmations as he judged expedient. 
While Ireland continued to be governed entirely as a 
conquered country, the lord deputy and his council had 
occasionally superseded the courts of common law, and 
assumed the decision of private civil causes. This practice, 
so liable to glaring abuse, had been prohibited by procla- 
mation during the government of Lord Falkland. Went- 
worth, however, soon discovering that there were many 
cases in which the course of the common law would 
obstruct his projected measures, procured a suspension of 
the prohibition ; and numerous suitors, who hoped from 
favour what they could not expect from truth, crowded 
from the ordinary courts to the Castle-chamber. || That 
persons of rank and consequence might not carry their 
complaints against his government to the throne, Went- 
worth procured his majesty's order, that none of the nobi- 
lity or principal officers should presume to quit Ireland, 
without a special licence from the lord deputy.^! For the 
sanction of his more delicate measures, he procured a 
private and direct correspondence with the king himself; 

* See these instructions in Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 65, 66. 

t Ibid, p. 86. $ Ibid, p. 91. § Ibid. || Ibid, pp. 202, 223. 

1T Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 348, 362, Wentworth was counte- 
nanced in this measure by the 37th grace, which enacted the same pro- 
vision, but with a different view, — to prevent men of large fortunes from 
deserting their estates, and wasting their revenues abroad. — Ibid, p. 324. 



302 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

and from the introduction of his confidential friends, 
Wandesford and Radcliffe, to official situations, and to 
the privy council, he derived a select cabinet, with whom 
he could in secret discuss his resolutions and enterprises.* 

Armed with these extraordinary powers, he commenced 
his government with an activity and vigour, which pro- 
mised a speedy revolution in the state of affairs. From 
the privy council, which had been accustomed to bear a 
great sway in the management of the state, which included 
the lords justices, along with the most considerable per- 
sonages in Ireland, he had reason to expect a troublesome 
opposition to measures, which tended to annihilate every 
balance to the authority of the sovereign. His conduct, 
therefore, from the commencement, was calculated to 
shake their confidence, and awe them into submission. In 
calling his first privy council, he summoned a select num- 
ber of the members ; a mode of proceeding which, though 
usual at the English court, was hitherto unknown in 
Ireland, and occasioned inexpressible mortification to 
those who were omitted. But the more honoured number 
found little reason to be proud of the distinction. After 
assembling at the time appointed, they were left for some 
hours to wait the leisure of the lord deputy ; and when he 
at length arrived, the business which he introduced re- 
quired their attention rather as auditors than counsellors.f 

A provision for the immediate necessities of government, 
especially the maintenance of the army, was the subject 
which he submitted to them at the next interview. After 
he had waited for some time to hear their propositions, a 
sullen silence was at length broke by Sir Adam Loftus, 

* We learn from Radcliffe's Essay, that Wentworth, since the retire- 
ment of Mr. Greenwood to his living, had been accustomed to take the 
advice of those two friends on all his affairs, both public and private, 
scarcely writing] a letter without submitting it to their inspection. In 
his despatches, he often speaks of their introduction to the privy council, 
and their private assistance, as his greatest aid in the management of his 
government. 

f Leland, vol. iii., pp. 12, 13. Carte's Life of Ormond, vol. i., p. 57. 
Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 97, 98. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 303 

son of the lord chancellor, who proposed that the voluntary 
contribution should be continued for another year; and 
that a parliament should, in the mean time, be requested, 
to reform abuses and establish a permanent revenue. The 
proposal met with an unpromising reception, and was 
openly opposed by Sir William Parsons, master of the 
wards, who doubted whether their act could bind the 
nation at large, and whether the people could be brought 
to acquiesce in such repeated demands on their unrequited 
generosity. Wentworth now thought it time to interpose. 
He had, he said, called them together, not from any 
necessity, but to afford them an opportunity of showing 
their loyalty ; that the Protestants, who shared most 
largely in the favours of government, ought to imitate the 
example of liberality last year set them by the Catholics ; 
and " if my arguments are ineffectual, I will," he added, 
" undertake, at the peril of my head, to make the king's 
army subsist, and provide for itself in Ireland, without 
your assistance."* After this imperious language, he 
found it expedient to express a hope, that their obedience 
would be speedily rewarded by a parliament in Ireland ; 
and so extremely was a parliament desired, that the pros- 
pect of it procured a cheerful acquiescence in the proposal 
of Sir Adam Loftus, not only from the privy council, but 
throughout the island. f 

A parliament was regarded by the people of Ireland as 
the only means of procuring redress for their grievances, 
and security for their rights. They had, indeed, carried 
their complaints to the throne, and experienced a gracious 
assent to their demands ; but the faith of the monarch had 
been violated with so little scruple, that a solemn act of 
the legislature could alone merit their confidence. It was 
the hope of a parliament that first induced them to propose 
a voluntary contribution, and that had since allured them 
to acquiesce in its continnance. J 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 99. f IWd. Leland, vol. iii., p. 14. 

X Leland, vol. iii., p. 14. 



304 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

Wentworth had the sagacity to perceive the impropriety 
of refusing this universal wish of the Irish. He had re- 
marked the sudden alacrity of the council on the mention 
of a parliament,* and he clearly saw that the nation at 
large was actuated by similar feelings. Were the people 
disappointed in this favourite object, what means would 
remain to government to supply its recurring necessities ? 
Would he not at length be compelled to put his threat 
in execution, and march, at the head of an army, to exact 
their reluctant contributions ? A contingency which would 
endanger a civil war, and tarnish the lustre of his adminis- 
tration, rendered the lord deputy no less eager than the 
Irish to procure a parliament. But the extreme aversion 
of the king to those assemblies presented a very discou- 
raging obstacle : while attempting to consolidate his in- 
dependent authority in England, it seemed a dangerous 
example to yield a parliament to Ireland. He had, indeed, 
given his royal word for this concession; but the con- 
firmation of the other graces, which had been expressly 
stated as the principal object of a parliament, was what he 
desired above all things to evade. From the discovery of 
defective titles he still hoped to increase his own revenue, 
and gratify his courtiers ; and he was unwilling to give the 
proprietors a security which would put an end to these 
pretensions.f 

Wentworth was well acquainted with these objections 
of the king ; yet did he not despair to overcome them by 
more powerful considerations. In an elaborate despatch, 
he represented that the English and Irish parliaments were 
widely different • that the former might propose what they 
pleased for debate, and pursue or drop it at pleasure ; 
while, by the provident law of Poynings, the latter could 
occupy itself only with such topics as had first been can- 
vassed and approved by the privy council of England. J 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. L, p. 99. f Ibid, p. 252. 

X The import of Poynings' law gave rise to many violent controversies, 
both before and after the time of Wentworth. It was, we have seen , 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. ' 305 

He dwelt on the exigencies of the state, the urgent neces- 
sity of making some permanent provision for them, and the 
propriety of trying the authorized methods, before resort- 
ing to extraordinary and dangerous courses. As more than 
the public revenue of Ireland was spent on its internal 
establishments, and the burdens hitherto laid on that coun- 
try had been extremely light, his majesty had the strongest 
claims on the liberality of the nation. And what their 
gratitude should deny, might be expected from their fears, 
since they laboured under a serious apprehension that the 
voluntary contribution, already levied for several successive 
years, might ultimately be demanded as an hereditary 
charge. If these reasons should appear sufficient for call- 
ing a parliament, there were grounds equally strong for 
taking this step without delay. If deferred till the volun- 
tary contribution should again be about to terminate, it 

originally gratifying to the Irish as a defence against those governors, 
who, by means of parliaments hastily summoned, were enabled to procure 
the sanction of the legislature to their most tyrannical acts. Hence the 
expediency of a provision, that no parliament should be summoned in 
Ireland, till an exposition of the bills to be debated in it was first trans- 
mitted to the English privy council. But when, in the revolution of cir- 
cumstances, the people became interested that parliaments should be 
more frequently held, and the court that they should be discontinued, it 
was discovered that this provision admitted of two interpretations. The 
popular party maintained that, if measures were produced of sufficient 
weight to satisfy the king and council, the intention of the law of Poynings 
was fulfilled; and that it was never designed to preclude the members of 
parliament, when once assembled, from introducing such other topics as 
they might deem expedient for the general welfare. But the partisans 
of the court contended, that the express letter of the law was not to be 
thus evaded; that the previous approbation of the king and council was 
distinctly required to each proposition ; and that no other measures could 
ever be made the subject of discussion. This latter interpretation, which 
gave the king so decided a control over parliamentary motions, was firmly 
maintained by Wentworth ; and rendered subservient by him, in the 
sequel, to very important purposes. He frequently takes occasion, in 
his letters and despatches, to applaud the law ; declares that " he is infi- 
nitely in love with this prerogative ;" and extols it as a " mighty power 
gotten by the wisdom of former times." — Strafford's Letters, vol. i., 2C.0. 

x 



306 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

would appear to proceed from necessity ; the parliament 
would be emboldened to clog their grants with conditions ; 
" and conditions/' added Wentworth, " are not to be ad- 
mitted with any subjects, much less with this people, where 
your majesty's absolute sovereignty goes much higher than 
it is taken (perhaps) to be in England." 

He unfolded a plan which he had devised, to avert those 
uneasy demands for the confirmation of the "graces," which 
his majesty so much apprehended. He proposed to divide 
the parliament into two sessions, the first of which should 
be exclusively devoted to the subject of supplies ; while 
the second, which might be held six months afterwards, 
should be occupied with the confirmation of the " graces/' 
and other national measures. Parliament, from a desire 
to conciliate the good-will of its sovereign, would, in its 
first session, in all probability, grant a sufficient supply 
for the expenditure of three years ; and this concession once 
secured, his majesty might hold what language he pleased 
with respect to the " graces." Wentworth pledged him- 
self to procure the return of a nearly equal number of Pro- 
testants and Catholics to the house of commons ; that both 
parties, being nearly balanced against each other, might 
be more easily managed. He proposed to obtain qualifi- 
cations for a sufficient number of military officers, whose 
situations rendered them dependent on the crown, and 
ready to give their votes as the deputy should direct. 
Could the parties be nearly balanced, peculiar arguments 
would not be wanting for each : the Catholics might be 
privately warned, that if no other provision should be made 
for the maintenance of the army, it would become neces- 
sary to levy on them the legal fines ; while the Protestants 
should be given to understand, that, until a regular reve- 
nue should be established, his majesty could not let go 
the voluntary contribution, or irritate the recusants by 
the execution of penal statutes. As to the upper house, 
he concluded that his majesty might reckon on all the 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 307 

bishops ; and there were motives enough of hope and fear 
to prevent any serious opposition from the temporal lords. # 

Charles at length yielded to these representations, and 
transmitted the necessary orders for holding a parliament ;f 
yet was he careful, in his confidential letters, to caution 
the lord deputy against this grand obj ect of his suspicion 
and abhorrence. " As for that hydra," said he, " take 
good heed ; for you know that here I have found it cunning 
as well as malicious. It is true that your grounds are well 
laid, and I assure you that I have a great trust in your 
care and j udgment ; yet my opinion is, that it will not 
be the worse for my service, though their obstinacy make 
you break them, for I fear that they have some ground to 
demand more than it is fit for me to give. "J Charles 
was, not unreasonably, afraid lest his royal sanction for-* 
merly given to the " graces," should be urged as a tenable 
ground for demanding their confirmation; and he dis- 
trusted even the address of Wentworth to elude the requi- 
sition.§ 

The deputy, however, found, in his own dexterity and 
vigour, resources adequate to the occasion ; and proceeded, 
with a high and resolute hand, to subdue every appear- 
ance of opposition. When the council, in conformity with 
the provisions of Poynings' law, assembled to deliberate 
on the propositions to be transmitted to his majesty, as 
subjects for the discussion of the ensuing parliament, they 
ventured to suggest several popular laws as necessary to 
conciliate the houses. And, in regard to subsidies, in- 
stead of transmitting the bill with blanks to be filled up 
at his majesty's discretion, they were of opinion that the 
amount should both be specified and confined within the 
strictest limits of necessity. Wentworth interrupted their 
proceedings with indignation. He reminded them that, as 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 183—187. This despatch is also in- 
serted in Rushworth's Collections, vol. ii., pp. 208 — 212. 
f Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 231. 
$ King to Wentworth, Stratford's Letters, vol. i., p. 233. § Ibid, 252. 

x 2 



308 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

privy counsellors, it was their business to study, not what 
should please the people, but what might gratify the king : 
his majesty, he assured them, would admit of no condi- 
tions, no bargaining for his favour ; that he was resolved 
to procure a permanent and adequate revenue ; and that he 
was desirous to accomplish this by a parliament, only as 
the most beaten track, yet not more legal than if done by 
his royal prerogative, if the ordinary way should fail him. 
Should the king be disappointed where he hath every rea- 
son to expect compliance, " in a cause so just and neces- 
sary, I will not scruple to appear at the head of the army, 
and there either persuade you that his majesty hath reason 
on his side, or perish in the execution of an honourable 
duty." He gave them to understand, that they would 
assuredly gain most by a ready and cheerful compliance. 
He reminded them of the irreparable breach which had 
taken place between the king and the parliament in Eng- 
land, and which had led to such extraordinary and unwel- 
come measures. " I could tell them/' says he, " as one 
that had held his eyes as open to these proceedings as any 
one, that to whatever other cause this mischief might be 
attributed, it arose solely from the ill-grounded and nar- 
row suspicions of the parliament, and their obstinate refusal 
to yield to the king that confidence which he so justly de- 
manded from his people. " # 

This address, delivered with energy and vehemence, 
produced the desired effect. Confounded and abashed, 
the council felt as if they had stood in the presence of a 
despotic sovereign ; and silently acquiesced in all the pro- 
posals of Wentworth.f 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. L, pp. 237—239. [/This language from one 
who had so actively infused these suspicions, and who had insisted that 
redress should ever precede supplies, did not escape the unlucky jeers of 
Wentworth's associates at court. Laud, with his usual love for a jest, 
writes him, that when that part of his despatch, which mentioned his re- 
probation of the turbulent proceedings of the English parliament, was read 
before the committee of the privy council, Lord Cottington added, Et 
quorum pars magna fui ! — Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 255./ 

t Ibid. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 309 

The lords of the Pale had, in former times, possessed a 
great control in the administration of Irish affairs ; and the 
privy council had been accustomed to submit to their 
inspection and deliberation the projected acts which were 
to be transmitted for the approbation of the king, The Earl 
of Fingal was deputed by his brother peers to represent this 
ancient privilege, and to request its observance on the pre- 
sent occasion ; but these traditionary rights were treated 
by Wentworth with such contempt and acrimony, that the 
earl was glad to excuse his confidence by an apology.* 
The deputy's management of the elections at first expe- 
rienced some opposition; but, after he had fined one 
refractory sheriff two hundred pounds, and put another in 
his place, he soon found resistance converted into submis- 
sion and obedience.^ 

That commanding and peremptory tone, which had pro- 
duced so effectual an impression on the council, proved 
equally successful in the parliament. Having opened the 
session with a pomp calculated to astonish and abash the 
vulgar, he informed the houses of his majesty's pleasure 
that two sessions should be held ; of which the first, 
according to the natural order, should be devoted to the 
sovereign, and the second to the subject. " In demand- 
ing supplies, I only require you to provide for your own 
safety ; I expect, therefore, your contributions will be 
both liberal and permanent : for it is far below the dig- 
nity of my master to come at every year's end, with his 
hat in his hand, to entreat that you would be pleased to 
preserve yourselves." He assured them that if they ex- 
pected constant protection without contributing towards 
it, they looked for more than had ever been the portion of 
a conquered kingdom. He warned them against disobedi- 
ence by the fate of the English parliament ; and concluded 
with an explicit intimation that future reward or punish- 
ment would certainly be dealt out according to their 
conduct. J 
* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 246. f Ibid, 270. % Ibid, 287—200. 



310 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

This speech, delivered with a loud voice and vehement 
gestures, was in public applauded for its eloquence, and 
in private dreaded for its vigour. # Confiding in the suc- 
cess of his plans, Wentworth had resolved to demand from 
the commons the extraordinary grant of six subsidies, and 
had procured the reluctant assent of the council to this 
exorbitant requisition.f This proposition he caused to be 
introduced into the house on the day immediately subse- 
quent to their assembling ; and took the parties by sur- 
prise, before any plan of opposition could be arranged. 
Ignorant of each other's sentiments, Catholics and Pro- 
testants strove to distinguish themselves by their loyal 
devotion. The six subsidies, voted unconditionally, were 
rendered payable in four years ; and entrusted to the dis- 
cretion of the lord deputy, accompanied only with a hum- 
ble request that he would be pleased to employ one 
portion in discharging the public debts, and another in 
buying in pensions and rents for the amelioration of the 
revenue. J All parties united in testifying their distin- 
guished respect for their governor. Sir Robert Talbot, 
one of the members, having, in the ardour of debate, been 
betrayed into some unguarded reflections on Wentworth's 
conduct, he was instantly expelled and committed to cus- 
tody, till he should, on his knees, implore pardon of the 
lord deputy. § 

While the commons were thus passing votes full of zeal 
and loyalty, the lords exhibited very different sentiments. 
Disregarding Wentworth's distribution of the sessions, 
they took into consideration the redress of grievances, the 
confirmation of the " graces," the enactment of various 
salutary regulations, and even proceeded to draw up cer- 
tain acts to be transmitted to England for his majesty's 
approbation. Wentworth, secure of the commons, took 
no notice of these impotent proceedings till the money 
bills were passed, and the term appointed for the session 

• Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 273. f Ibid, p. 259. : Ibid, pp. 277, 279. 
§ Comm. Journals, vol. i., p. 116. Leland, vol. iii., p. 18. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 311 

about to expire. He then, by a formal protest, warned 
the lords of the irregularity of their proceedings ; pointed 
out their violation of the law of Poynings ; and asserted 
the exclusive right of the deputy and council to frame and 
transmit laws to England.* 

The triumphant manner in which Wentworth conducted 
this session, impressed the English court with surprise 
and admiration. While they found it so difficult to govern 
a people habituated to subordination, or to move the 
liberality of a parliament accustomed to considerable 
grants, they saw Wentworth exact implicit submission 
from a nation hitherto noted for turbulence, and draw 
large sums from a parliament which now for the first time 
granted a subsidy.^ The Irish clergy, though strongly 
tinctured with puritanism, had contended in zeal with the 
laity ; for the convocation, which sat along with the par- 
liament, had granted eight subsidies. 

The part, however, which still remained to be acted, 
appeared replete with difficulty. The people had been 
liberal, on the faith that the king would be generous ; and 
it seemed necessary, both for his dignity and for the pre- 
servation of tranquillity, that this confidence should not 
be disappointed. But Wentworth, trusting to that bold- 
ness and decision which hitherto proved so successful, 
resolved to gratify his sovereign, whatever might become 
of the popular humours. With a devotion most accept- 
able to Charles, he wrote to him, that he and the council 
would take on themselves the whole blame of refusing, 
while the whole merit of granting should be given to his 
majesty. i With regard to the "graces" not fit to be 
passed into laws, he would boldly state that he had not 
thought proper to transmit them among the propositions 
for his majesty's approbation;^ and, without entering into 

* Strafford's Letters, vol L, p. 279. f Ibid, p. 307. 

X Wentworth to the king, ibid, vol. i., pp. 328, 339. 
§ The law of Poynings, by which the parliament was prevented from 
entering on any discussion without this previous form, was the circum- 



312 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

further explanations, would simply inform them that this 
was done for great and weighty reasons of state. # The 
plan was hazardous, for the "graces" to be denied were 
those of which the Irish were most particularly desirous. 
One "grace" was to prevent the inquiries into defective 
titles from being carried beyond a period of sixty years ; 
and another was to guarantee the proprietors of Con- 
naught against some dubious claims of the crown : but 
as these provisions would have dried up a source from 
which the king expected to enrich himself and his cour- 
tiers, they were on no account to be granted.f 

The same arts, however, which ruled the first session, 
proved effectual in the second. In his opening speech, 
Wentworth resolutely avowed that he had refused to 
transmit certain graces to England, and asserted his right 
to do so by the law of Poynings. He explained to the 
parliament that, by this statute, the consent of the deputy 
and council was as necessary to a law in Ireland, as the 
sanction of the parliament was in England .J The mem- 
bers heard in silence what they feared to contradict ; and 
Wentworth, in his next despatch, could boast to the king, 
that the obnoxious graces were lulled asleep for ever.§ 

In the course of the session, the Catholics, who had 
suffered most by the refusal of the " graces," began to 
show their discontent, in the house of commons, by op- 
posing some bills introduced by the deputy. As the Pro- 
testants, on whom he now depended, had lost several 

stance to which Wentworth trusted for the prevention of all troublesome 
opposition to his plans. With this rein in his hand, he felt no alarm at 
turning the attention of the parliament to the " graces," as he expresses 
by an apposite figure in a letter to Secretary Coke : " For my own part, 
I see not any hazard in it, considering that we have this lyme hound in 
our power, still to take off when we please, which is not so easy with 
your parliament of England, where sometimes they hunt loose, forth of 
command, chuse and give over their own game as they list themselves." — 
Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 305. 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. L, p. 338. f Ibid, pp. 320, 321. 

I Ibid, p. 345. § Ibid, p. 341. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 313 

questions by their negligent attendance, he resolved to 
make a final trial of strength; and, if unsuccessful, to 
conclude the session by an immediate prorogation. But 
the critical question, which concerned the expulsion of a 
refractory Catholic, was carried triumphantly in his fa- 
vour ; and he was afterwards enabled, without opposition, 
to enact such regulations as he deemed expedient.* 

The lords he not only restrained from such discussions 
as they had hazarded in the last session, but abridged in 
their authority by new deductions from the law of Poyn- 
ings. One Sir Vincent Gookin had arraigned the vices of 
his countrymen in a libel so acrimonious, as to excite the 
indignation of all ranks ; and the parliament, entering into 
the general resentment, resolved to bring him to punish- 
ment by impeachment before the lords. Here, however, 
Wentworth interposed. He censured the offender, ap- 
plauded their intentions, but reminded them that, by the 
law of Poynings, they were precluded from acts of judi- 
cature, as well as of legislation, unless when authorized 
by the deputy and council. The importance of the con- 
cession, thus wrested from the lords, was well understood 
in England, where impeachments had occasioned such 
frequent uneasiness to the court. In his next despatch, 
Wentworth congratulated his majesty on this acquisition : 
and, in answer, received the king's warm approbation of 
his prudent foresight, and an order to try the offender in 
the Castle-chamber.f 

With a still greater stretch of authority, but with equal 
facility, he silenced some opposition to his measures 
which arose in the convocation ; and, at the close of the 
session, he found himself the uncontrouled disposer of the 
destinies of Ireland.! 

Elated with the unexampled success of all his measures, 
he justly boasted, in his despatches, of the important 
services which he had rendered to the crown. He spoke 
of vexatious embarrassments succeeded by an ample reve- 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. L, pp. 350, 351 . f Ibid, 349. J Ibid, 343. 



314 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

nue ; of importunate demands superseded by an unlimited 
prerogative. He declared that if his majesty was here- 
after disappointed of any reasonable desire in Ireland, it 
might justly be laid to the charge of the deputy : " for 
now," said he, " the king is as absolute here as any prince 
in the whole world can be"* 

The great acquisitions which he had so rapidly made 
for the crown, emboldened Wentworth to aspire to some 
of the sovereign's rewards. An earldom had, in his eyes, 
peculiar charms ; and he ventured to express his desire to 
the king. This distinction, he said, while it added dignity 
to his person, would greatly assist his future usefulness, 
by affording an unequivocal proof of his majesty's appro- 
bation and favour.f But Charles was by no means so 
inclined to grant this request as the suitor expected. He 
had indeed been very lavish in his commendations of the 
deputy, and must have felt all the importance of his 
services ; but he had no longer the task of gaining over 
an opponent : Wentworth, wholly disjoined from the 
opposition, was now irrevocably devoted to the court. 
He had, it was true, conferred on the crown benefits 
which even exceeded expectation : but his administration 
was only begun ; still greater services were to be expected 
from him ; and it might not be impolitic for the sovereign 
to retain in his hands an incentive which appeared so 
alluring to the ambition of his minister. 

There were yet other reasons for receiving the applica- 
tion of Wentworth with coldness. Charles, like other 
princes of the Stuart race, was ill fitted to refuse the 
demands of his courtiers, many of whom looked to the 
Irish establishment as a mine of patronage. Wentworth, 
before entering on the government, had stipulated that 
no such grant should be made without his concurrence. 
Charles, unable to refuse such grants altogether, had 
made them conditionally; and, in his letters to Wentworth, 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 344. 

r Wentworth to the king, Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 301. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 315 

desired him to concede or refuse them, as the good of 
the service required ; " yet so, too," added he, " as I may- 
have thanks howsoever ; that if there be any thing to be 
denied, you may do it, not I."* This ungracious office, 
repeatedly urged with more earnestness than delicacy ,f 
Wentworth undertook with the most loyal devotion ; J 
and having, moreover, interfered to restrain both parties 
in regard to the questionable titles, he had accumulated 
on himself a load of displeasure, both from the English 
courtiers and the Irish people. By conferring on this 
minister any marked distinction, Charles would seem to 
approve every part of his conduct, his imperious speeches, 
his harsh refusals ; and thus draw on himself a portion 
of that odium which he was so solicitous to avoid. His 
reply to Wentworth's application obscurely intimated 
these sentiments. He thanked him for taking on himself 
the refusal of the graces ; he assured him he was not 
displeased at his request, since noble minds are always 
accompanied with lawful ambition ; but he hoped that he 
would patiently wait the time of favour, and allow him to 
do all things in his own manner. § 

This refusal ill corresponded with the estimate which 
Wentworth had formed of his deserts. While he submis- 
sively thanked the king for his gracious reply, || he could 
not refrain from expressing his chagrin in a letter to Lord 
Cottington, his colleague in administration. His applica- 
tion for the earldom was, indeed, a secret lodged in his 
own breast ; but he dwelt on his expenses, his difficulties, 
his need of the royal protection and countenance. "Yet I 
am resolved," said he, " to complain of nothing : I have 
been something unprosperous, slowly heard, and as coldly 
answered." If 

The apprehensions of Charles also disappointed him 
in a favourite part of his policy. By great exertion and 

* The king to Wentwor th, Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 140. 
t Ibid, pp. 159, 160. J Ibid, p. 165. § Ibid, p. 332. 

|| Ibid, p. 341. If Ibid, p. 354. 



316 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

consummate address, he had been enabled to procure a 
parliament, balanced as he desired, and completely sub- 
servient to his wishes. He understood the value of such 
an instrument in procuring a ready submission to his 
measures ; and a change of circumstances might prevent 
his obtaining a new representation equally desirable. 
These considerations he strongly represented to the king, 
earnestly requesting that he might be allowed to defer the 
dissolution of the parliament, and continue it by proroga- 
tion.* But with this request Charles could not prevail on 
himself to comply. He had found his English parliaments 
always mild and temperate at the outset, but wrought up 
to obstinacy and rage before their close. Dreading for 
Ireland a catastrophe which he had been unable to avert 
in England, he urged Wentworth to get rid of this formi- 
dable assembly, while the members retained their good 
humour. " My reasons," said he, " are grounded on my 
experience of parliaments here : they are of the nature of 
cats, they ever grow curst with age ; so that if ye will 
have good of them, put them off handsomely when they 
come to any age, for young ones are ever most tractable. "f 
Notwithstanding these disappointments, Wentworth 
persisted in giving new proofs of his zeal and devotion. 
Among other schemes for consolidating the power of the 
sovereign, he conceived the difficult one of reducing all 
the people of Ireland to a conformity in religion. Theo- 
logical differences were, he saw, the chief cause of their 
internal dissensions ; priests and Jesuits the active pro- 
moters of sedition, J their followers were the principal 
opposers of subordination and improvement ; from all 
which he concluded, that "the introduction of conformity 
was by far the greatest service which, in that kingdom, 
could be rendered to the crown. "§ In these sentiments 
he was confirmed by Archbishop Laud, who did not 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 353. 

+ The king to Wentworth, Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 3G5. 

: Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 431. § Ibid, p. 367. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 317 

cease urging him to go thorough and thorough with the 
pious work.* 

The end which Wentworth pursued was unfortunately 
unattainable, but his means were far more rational than 
those usually adopted by projectors of conformity. Amidst 
the public disorders, many of the churches had fallen to 
ruin ; the incomes of the clergy were impaired by long 
leases and fraudulent appropriations of their lands; and, 
as no inducement was held out to men of education and 
character to follow the church, the ignorance and pro- 
fligacy of numbers of the clergy corresponded w r ith their 
poverty. To remedy these evils w T as, in Wentworth's 
opinion, the first and most indispensable step towards 
conformity. f " To attempt it," said he, " before the 
decays of the material churches be repaired, and an able 
clergy provided, that so there may be wherewith to 
receive, instruct, and keep the people, were as a man 
going to w r arfare without ammunition or arms." % With 
views equally rational, he proposed to introduce civiliza- 
tion and sound religion by watching over the education of 
youth. He took measures to prevent the children of 
Catholics from being; sent to foreign convents for their 
education; he endeavoured to procure throughout the 
island the erection of Protestant schools, with proper 
endowments and able teachers; and while he thus pro- 
vided for the instruction of the young, he attempted to 
remedy the neglect of the old by vigorous penalties 
against non-residence.^ Penal statutes, as a means of 
conversion, he estimated at their just value ; for he de- 
clared fines on non-conformity to be " an engine rather to 
draw money out of men's pockets, than to raise a right 

* Strafford's Letters, vol i., pp. Ill, 156, 329. Laud was no less eager 
for the application of his favourite maxim in the state than in the church. 
" For the state," writes he to Wentworth, " I am absolutely for thorough ; 
but 1 see both thick and thin stays somebody, where 1 conceive it should 
not , and it is impossible for me to go thorough alone." 

f Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 172. J Ibid, p. 187. 

§ Ibid, p. 393. Vol. ii., p. 7- 



318 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

belief in their hearts." * All precipitate attempts to 
enforce conformity he reprobated ; and resolutely opposed 
the violent measures which the bishops meditated against 
Catholic recusants.-f- 

In the execution of his schemes for the church, Went- 
worth repeatedly found it necessary to employ that brief 
and peremptory procedure which had already proved so 
effectual in Ireland. Those who had engrossed the lands 
and tithes of the church were unwilling to restore them ; 
the common law protected the possessors of long leases ; 
and the incumbent clergy were eager to enrich their rela- 
tives by such leases at the expense of their successors. 
But Wentworth proceeded boldly, in the name and with 
the authority of the king. He removed the decision of 
ecclesiastical rights from the courts of common law to the 
Castle-chamber; he compelled the Earl of Cork, so con- 
spicuous for his rank and influence, to restore an annual 
revenue of two thousand pounds, which had been obtained 
from the church ; and when he understood that the bishop 
of Killala was making underhand bargains to defraud his 
see, he sent for him into his presence, and told him 
sternly, that he deserved to have his surplice pulled over 
his ears, and to be turned out on a stipend of four nobles 
a-year. By this resolute behaviour, he procured a speedy 
restoration of lands and tithes, and a ready obedience to 
the commission now issued for the repair of churches. J 

His next endeavour was, in conformity with the desire 
of Laud, to introduce a strict uniformity among all Pro- 
testants. The same ecclesiastical disputes, which divided 
the people of England into churchmen and puritans, had 
agitated the Protestants of Ireland. Some were willing to 
retain the rites and ceremonies of the English church, 
while others pressed for a farther reform. Archbishop 
Usher, a man of uncommon moderation and virtue, zea- 
lously applied himself to devise a remedy for these evils, 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 39. f Ibid, pp. 75, 172. Vol ii., p. 39. 
J Ibid, vol. i., pp. 151, 156, 171, 380. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 319 

and succeeded in drawing up a list of articles which were 
received almost unanimously. But the canons of the Irish 
church, as it was now called, were far from acceptable to 
Laud. They receded from popery as much as he had 
approached to it ; and they tended to withdraw a whole 
kingdom from its immediate dependence on the metropo- 
litan of England. Determined to supersede these articles 
by the canons of the English church, Wentworth applied 
to Usher ; and that meek prelate, averse to all contention, 
agreed, not only to renounce his own work, but to use his 
influence for the same purpose with the convocation. 
When the question was proposed before that assembly, 
the bishops seemed willing to gratify the lord deputy by 
compliance ; but the lower house, strongly attached to 
their own canons, appointed a committee to discuss the 
articles submitted to their acceptance, and appeared re- 
solved to admit only such of them as corresponded with 
their own opinions. Wentworth lost no time in discon- 
certing this opposition : he commanded the chairman of 
the committee to deliver up to him the book with their pro- 
ceedings, and gave orders that no report should be made. 
He next notified to the convocation that they must cease 
to mention the Irish canons ; and while he permitted the 
question to be put only on the English articles, he insisted 
that the members should express their assent or dissent 
by a simple vote, without presuming to enter on any dis- 
cussion. The clergy, confounded by this imperious pro- 
ceeding, received the mandates of their governor in silent 
submission ; and only one dissenting voice was heard to 
assert their independence. 5 ^ 

To gratify Laud, Wentworth engaged in some still more 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 343, 344. Wentworth, in relating 
these circumstances to Laud, humorously adverts to the clamour which 
these proceedings would excite in England. " I am not ignorant," says 
he, " that my stirring herein will he strangely reported and censured on 
that side; and how I shall be able to sustain myself against your Prynnes 
and Pims, and Bens, with the rest of that generation of odd names and 
natures, the Lord knows." 



320 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

gratuitous contests. Among his pious researches, Laud had 
discovered that the communion-table, which was usually- 
placed in the most convenient part of the church, ought, 
according to the Romish form, to be invariably situated 
at the east end of the chancel, and known by the name of 
the altar. Unluckily, in the cathedral of Dublin, the 
family monument of the Earl of Cork happened to occupy 
this devoted spot. Laud, informed of this, remonstrated 
against the profanation ; the earl defended the repository 
of his ancestors ; and the task of asserting the cause of the 
church ultimately fell to the vigour of Wentworth.* 

But his most noted departure from his usual prudence 
in matters of religion, was the introduction of the court of 
high commission, whose oppressive and impolitic severities 
in England had called forth his own remonstrances. + The 
objects which he proposed by this innovation were po- 
litical as well as religious ; to watch over the respectability 
and usefulness of the clergy; to reform and support the 
ecclesiastical courts ; to bring the people to a conformity 
of religion, and " in the way to all these, raise, perhaps, a 
good revenue to the crown. "J Nor did this dangerous 
engine produce pernicious effects while under his vigilant 
control ; and Wentworth was enabled to make the proud 
and singular boast that, during his government in Ireland, 
" not the hair of a man's head was touched for the free 
exercise of his conscience. "§ 

Whatever might be the effect of introducing the religion 
of England, the introduction of English law was a benefit 
not to be disputed. By the act of Poynings, all the 
English statutes, to the time of Henry VII., had been 
established in Ireland ; Wentworth now procured the 
adoption of all subsequent acts, with the exception of a 
few penal statutes which were deemed inexpedient.|| Yet, 
even in the administration of justice, he kept in view his 
grand objects, the power and profit of the crown. At first, 

* Stratford's Letters, vol. i., p. 211, &c. f Ibid, vol. ii., p. 159. 

X Ibid, vol. i., p. 187. § Ibid, vol. ii., p. 112. 

|| Ibid, vol. ii., p. 18. Radcliffe's Essay. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 321 

he found frequent occasion to complain of the stubborn 
independence of the courts of common law, and to remove 
causes from their jurisdiction to his Castle-chamber : # but 
at length he was able to establish a complete control over 
the legal officers ;f and could boast to the king, " that the 
ministers of justice were now contained in proper subordi- 
nation to the crown ; that they ministered wholly to uphold 
the sovereignty ; that they carried a direct aspect upon the 
prerogative of his majesty; and squinted not aside upon 
the vulgar and vain opinions of the populace. "J 

The military establishment of Ireland engaged the par- 
ticular attention of Went worth. He found the troops 
without clothes, without arms, without ammunition,* a 
terror to the inhabitants, only from their licentiousness; 
and equally deficient in numbers and discipline. By inde- 
fatigable exertion, all these defects were speedily reme- 
died. The regiments of foot were completed ; the cavalry, 
the most efficient troops against internal commotions, were 
greatly augmented ; and Ireland, for the first time since 
the days of Elizabeth, beheld an army well appointed and 
marshalled, equal either to its protection or its subju- 
gation. On their marches through the country, the sol- 
diery, who had hitherto resembled troops ravaging an 
enemy's territory, now paid for every thing ; demeaned 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 202. When he demanded for himself 
and his privy council the power of deciding causes between private parties, 
he said, " I know very well the common lawyers will be passionately 
against it, who are wont to put such a prejudice on all other professions, 
as if none were to be trusted, or capable to administer justice but them- 
selves. But how well this suits with monarchy, when they monopolize 
all to be governed by their year books, you in England have a costly ex- 
perience ; and I am sure his majesty's absolute power is not weaker in 
this kingdom, where hitherto the deputy and council have had a stroke 
with them." 

f Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 173. " I know no reason," writes he to 
Laud, " why you may not as well rule the common lawyers in England 
as I do here ; and yet that I do, and will do in all that concerns my mas- 
ter's service, at the peril of my head." 

£ Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 18. 

Y 



322 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

themselves with sobriety ; and, instead of being feared 
and detested, were welcomed by the inhabitants as friends. 
With a diligence rarely found in a chief exclusively occu- 
pied with military affairs, Wentworth could boast that he 
had visited the whole army, and inspected every individual 
in it. He could report that he was always attended by a 
troop, raised and accoutred at his own charge ; that he 
was ready, at a moment's warning, to mount, and, by a 
sudden chastisement, to repress every symptom of com- 
motion^ 

Wentworth seems to have understood, far better than 
the king, how essential a disciplined force was to the sup- 
port of an unlimited monarchy. He repeatedly urged the 
necessity of continuing to augment the Irish army ; he re- 
presented it as an excellent minister and assistant in the 
execution of the king's commands, as the great peace- 
maker between the British and the natives, between the 
Catholics and the Protestants, and the chief security of 
those new settlers from whom his majesty anticipated 
such advantages. A nursery of soldiers ought evidently to 
be provided in some part of his majesty's dominions ; and 
Ireland was, in his opinion, the most proper quarter for it.f 

But the instrument by which all advantages for the 
crown were to be consolidated, was a permanent revenue ; 
and for the attainment of this object, the lord deputy ex- 
hausted all his talents and industry. In these days, when 
taxation is so enormous, and money so reduced in value, 
one cannot forbear a smile on investigating the financial 
statements of our ancestors. When Wentworth undertook 
the government of Ireland, the revenue, always anticipated, 
was under eighty-five thousand pounds ; and, notwith- 
standing the voluntary contribution, still fell short of the 
annual expenditure. J Towards the relief of these embar- 
rassments, the parliament, as we have seen, was induced 
to grant six subsidies, each of which Wentworth computed 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 96, 202. Vol. ii., pp. 18, 198. 
f Ibid. % Ibid, vol. i., p. 190. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 323 

at thirty-thousand pounds. But, as no land-tax had 
hitherto been levied in Ireland, it was necessary to make 
an assessment; and the deputy accordingly appointed 
commissioners to make a fair valuation of the landed 
property of the island. The commons, however, dreading 
discoveries which would greatly advance the rate of their 
contributions, hastened to request of the deputy that they 
might be allowed to assess themselves, and that he would 
accept forty thousand pounds in lieu of each subsidy. To 
this proposal, which so far surpassed his expectations, 
Wentworth procured some additions; and, on including 
the assessments of the nobility and clergy, he found that 
each subsidy amounted to fifty thousand pounds.* 

Other plans for the permanent increase of the revenue 
were pursued by Wentworth. Under his diligent superin- 
tendence, the produce of the customs rose, in four years, 
from twelve thousand pounds a-year to forty thousand, 
and were still in a state of rapid advancement.^ This 
amelioration proceeded in part from an improved method 
of collection, J but more from the encouragement which he 
afforded to trade. By arming proper vessels for the pro- 
tection of the coasts, he put an end to the piracies which 
had extended to the very harbours of the island :§ and the 
national commerce and shipping, freed from these dangers, 
soon experienced an extraordinary increase. || The traffic 
of Ireland laboured under many disadvantages, from the 
absurd regulations of the English government. To favour 
a monopoly of soap-makers, the exportation of Irish tallow 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 307, 400. 

f Ibid, vol. ii., p. 137. X Ibid, vol. i., p. 521. 

§ It was, at that period, a new and enlightened advice of Wentworth 
to the king, " that he should suffer no act of hostility to be committed on 
any merchant or his goods in the Irish Channel ; but that he should, in 
all his treaties with foreign powers, cause it to be respected as the great- 
est of his majesty's ports." — Strafford's Letters, vol. ii, p. 19. 

|| Strafford's Letters, vol. L, pp. 67, 90, 106. Vol. ii., p. 18. All the 
Irish trade, even in the Channel, and between the ports of the island, with 
the exception of the coal trade, had hitherto been carried on in Dutch 
bottoms. 

Y 2 



324 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

was prohibited ; that of wool, to gratify the English grow- 
ers. A heavy duty on the importation of coals from Eng- 
land operated as an obstacle to the increase of the towns 
and manufactures of Ireland ; there existed a tax on live 
cattle exported from Ireland, and another on horses and 
mares imported from England. Against these vexatious 
impositions, Wentworth strenuously remonstrated ; and 
while he procured the abolition of some, and the mitiga- 
tion of others, he founded lasting advantages to the crown 
in the improvement of Ireland.* 

Some of his financial measures were, it must be admit- 
ted, less beneficial to the country. He rendered a licence 
necessary for retailing tobacco, and was enabled to farm 
the privilege for an annual rent of seven, and finally of 
twelve thousand pounds.f A tax which he proposed on 
brewing is entitled to notice, only as intended to pave the 
way for the gradual introduction of the excise, an impost 
which, at that period, excited peculiar dislike and appre- 
hension. J 

But the introduction of the statutes of Wills and Uses 
might be considered an equal benefit to the crown and the 
subject. Means had been found to disappoint the king 
by fraudulent conveyances of those feudal aids which were 
still held legal ; and by the same arts infinite confusion 
had been introduced into the tenure of property. Widows 
were deprived of their jointures, and heirs of their inhe- 
ritances, without knowing whom to sue for the recovery of 
their rights. By means of certain statutes, which Went- 
worth with difficulty induced the parliament to enact, 
these disorders were remedied, and the king's fines, in the 
court of wards, received an increase of ten thousand 
pounds a-year.§ 

By such expedients the embarrassments of the treasury 
were quickly removed, all anticipations terminated, all 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 202, 308, 393. Vol. ii., pp. 19, 20, 89. 
f Ibid, vol. ii., p. 135. J Ibid, vol. L, p. 192. 

§ Ibid, voL L, p. 351. Vol. ii, p. 19. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 325 

the charges of government paid to a day ; and, in the fifth 
year of his administration, Wentworth could boast that 
the annual revenue bid fair to exceed the expenditure by 
sixty thousand pounds. # 

There were other projects of Wentworth for the im- 
provement of the revenue and the country, some of which 
proved abortive, and others productive only of remote 
advantage. To remedy the excessive scarcity of coin, 
which caused endless embarrassments to commerce, he 
united with the Irish parliament in a petition for the erec- 
tion of a mint in Ireland; but, though the king readily 
granted the request, such were the delays interposed by 
the officers of the English mint, who dreaded a diminution 
of their emoluments, that the repeated representations of 
the lord deputy were hardly able to give effect to the mea- 
sure during his administration^ He procured workmen 
from England to make trial in different parts of the island, 
whether saltpetre might not be procured in sufficient quan- 
tities to form an article of commerce ;J and some attempts 
led him to believe that he might work the silver mines and 
marble quarries to advantage. § 

Far more extensive, however, was the project which he 
formed of opening a victualling trade between Ireland 
and Spain. Rising superior to those apprehensions of the 
Spanish power, which were not generally dispelled even at 
a later period, he perceived that the commodities of the 
one kingdom corresponded admirably with the wants of the 
other, and called for a speedy extension of their commer- 
cial intercourse. He declared it as his opinion, that the 
reciprocal interests of Spain and the British empire corre- 
sponded better than those of any two nations in Europe ; 
he urged the king to cultivate a good understanding with 
that power; he endeavoured to promote the same object 
by his private connexions ; and he had even the industry 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 19. 

f Ibid, vol. i., pp. 366, 386, 405. Vol. ii., pp. 42, 133, 151. 

% Ibid, vol. ii., pp. 12, 44, 79. § Ibid, vol. i , pp. 174, 340. 



326 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

to draw up, from information communicated by his com- 
mercial agents, a statement of the nature and quantity of 
the commodities which each port in Spain could either 
receive from Ireland, or give in return. The great annual 
fleets to the colonies, which were often detained in the 
Spanish harbours from want of provisions, could, he ob- 
served, be supplied far more conveniently and cheaply 
from Ireland than from any other country of Europe ; and 
in this trade he foresaw an inexhaustible source of national 
riches.* 

But the scheme from which the most permanent benefits 
have accrued to Ireland, was the establishment of the linen 
manufacture. When he first undertook the government of 
that country, Wentworth learnt, from his inquiries into 
the state of the island, that no article for export was 
manufactured there, unless a small quantity of coarse 
woollen yarn. Unwilling, by encouraging this branch, to 
interfere with the staple of England, he formed the project 
of introducing the general cultivation of flax, and direct- 
ing the industry of the natives to the manufacture of linen. 
At his own expense he imported and sowed a quantity of 
superior flax-seed ; and, the crop succeeding to his expec- 
tation, he, next year, expended a thousand pounds for the 
same purpose, erected several looms, procured workmen 
from France and Flanders, and at length was enabled to 
ship for Spain, at his own risk, the first investment of linen 
ever exported from Ireland. f Exulting in the success of 
this favourite scheme, he foretold that it would prove the 
greatest means of enrichment which Ireland had ever en- 
joyed ;J and his sagacity is amply attested by the industry 
and wealth which the linen manufacture continues to dif- 
fuse over that portion of the empire. 

If it was fortunate for Ireland that this enterprise suc- 
ceeded, it was equally fortunate that another of his plans 
proved abortive. He had laid it down as a maxim, " that 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 93, 103, 299, &c. 

t Ibid, p. 93. Vol. ii., pp. 19, 109-. X Ibid, vol. L, p 473. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 327 

a governor of that island, to serve the king completely, 
ought not only to promote the prosperity of its inhabitants, 
but to render them so dependent on the crown, as not even 
to be able to subsist without its good pleasure. " # By the 
substitution of the linen for the woollen manufacture, he 
considered this object as in some degree effected ; as the 
Irish, on a quarrel with England, might be deprived of 
woollen cloth, — an article of the first necessity.f But as 
their salt, without which they could neither carry on their 
victualling trade nor cure their ordinary provisions, was 
either manufactured by patentees, or imported from abroad, 
it occurred to him that the king, by monopolizing the sale 
of this article, would both obtain a large increase of 
revenue, and reduce the Irish to complete dependence.;}; 
Were the internal manufacture of the article, as he pro- 
posed, abolished, it would be difficult to defraud the king's 
revenue by smuggling a commodity so bulky, and so 
perishable at sea. This expedient, combined with the 
prohibition of the woollen manufacture, would reduce the 
Irish to entire dependence, as it would at all times be in 
his majesty's power to deprive them of food and clothing. 
The revenue would be greatly benefited, since salt was an 
article which the people must of necessity purchase at any 
expense, and the king might, at pleasure, enhance the 
price. He instanced the profit and ascendancy which the 
King of France derived from the gabelle ; and to show his 
firm confidence in the success of the project, he offered 
immediately to farm the monopoly at six thousand pounds 
a-year.§ These arguments, however, could not induce the 
court to risk the odium of such a measure ; and Wentworth 
has derived from his proposal only the reputation of hav- 
ing conceived a plan, which has uniformly given at least 
a temporary strength to despotic governments. || 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 93. f Ibid. 

% Ibid, pp. 93, 182. § Ibid, p. 192. 

|| The only encouragement which Wentworth seems to have obtained 
from the court in this scheme, is a letter from the lord treasurer, advising 



328 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

The tranquillity of Ireland was unfortunately interrupted 
by the bold measures of Wentworth to increase the royal 
demesnes by the discovery of defective titles. By re- 
searches among old records, it was found that the whole 
province of Connaught, on the forfeiture of its Irish chief- 
tain, had come, at a distant period, into the possession 
of the crown. It had, indeed, been all granted away, at 
different times, by formal patents from the sovereign ; but 
the ingenuity of the court lawyers soon discovered that 
some flaw or other might be found in all these titles. 
During the former reign, when James was inflamed with 
an immoderate desire for extended settlements, some mea- 
sures of this nature had been suggested ; but it had ap- 
peared too hazardous an attempt to dispossess a fourth 
part of the proprietors of Ireland on formal quibbles and 
obsolete pretensions. By the graces, which had received 
the sanction of Charles, it was expressly stipulated that 
the titles of the Connaught landholders should be recog- 
nised as valid ; and they had thus every assurance of their 
estates, which deeds of law and the word of a monarch 
could bestow. But Wentworth, while he prevented the 
grace respecting Connaught from passing into a law, en- 
gaged to Charles that he would devise some means or other 
to reduce that province into the possession of the crown ; # 
and being now furnished by the lawyers with the pretext 
which he desired, he was not to be deterred by popular 
clamour from rendering an acceptable service to the mo- 
narch. 

He first proceeded to the county of Roscommon, and 
summoned a jury of such proprietors as were able to pay a 

him, " if he hears no more of the salt business, to take his own way, and 
not delay the king's service," — Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 333. But, 
as the lord treasurer, from being his most zealous patron, was now become 
his enemy, on account of Wentworth's greater intimacy with Laud, it is 
not improbable that this unofficial advice might be given with no good 
intentions. At least, the lord deputy appears to have prosecuted the 
scheme no farther. — Ibid, p. 340. 
* Ibid, p. 342. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 329 

large fine to the crown, if they should happen to prove 
refractory.* He informed them that his appeal to their 
decision on the present occasion was an act of mere cour- 
tesy; that, in a case so clear, his majesty could have 
recovered by an ordinary process in the court of exche- 
quer; that, if they looked to their own interests, they 
ought to find the king's title, and throw themselves on his 
bounty ; but that, if they rather considered the profit of 
the crown, they ought stoutly to refuse the demands of 
justice, and leave his majesty to pursue his course, unem- 
barrassed by the claims of ready obedience. The jury, 
aware that the threats of Wentworth were not empty 
words, judged it most prudent to purchase his favour by a 
ready submission; and the juries afterwards summoned in 
Mayo and Sligo, delivered up their counties with equal 
alacrity to the crown. Their obedience was rewarded by a 
proclamation, assuring them that they should be permitted 
to purchase indefeasible titles by an easy composition. f 

Wentworth, however, was informed that he might look 
to a very different reception in Galway. The inhabitants 
of that county, composed chiefly of aboriginal Irish, and 
adhering, almost without exception, to the Romish reli- 
gion, were stimulated to the maintenance of their tenures 
by their priests, their lawyers, and, above all, by their 
hereditary governor the Earl of St. Alban's and Clanri- 
carde. Undismayed at their reported opposition, Went- 
worth declared he should rejoice if they afforded his ma- 
jesty so fair an occasion of augmenting his revenue and 
strengthening his authority. J He summoned a jury here 
on the same principle as in the other counties : but, find- 
ing them immoveable by his arguments or his threats, he 
resolved to make a striking example of the first resolute 

* Wentworth, in his official despatches, states that he had purposely 
composed the jury of the principal inhabitants, that " they might answer 
the king a round fine in the Castle-chamber, in case they should prevari- 
cate." — Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 442. 

f Ibid. : Ibid, pp. 444, 450. 



330 EA.RL OF STRAFFORD. 

opposition which he had encountered. By his own au- 
thority he fined the sheriff a thousand pounds, for select- 
ing such an ill-affected jury : he cited the jurors into the 
Castle-chamber, and fined them four thousand pounds 
each : and, by his representations at court against the 
Earl of Clanricarde, made him severely suffer for his ob- 
noxious interference^ 

By these imperious proceedings, the lord deputy gave 
rise to great discontents ;f and, in the Earl of Clanricarde, 
he had incensed a nobleman known and respected at court, 
and provided with the means of diffusing the most invi- 
dious representation of these transactions, Yet, confirmed 
by fresh assurances of the royal approbation and support^ 
Wentworth remained undismayed ; and the unfortunate 
violence of his temper quickly aggravated the prejudice 
which he strove not to allay. 

Several harsh and unprecedented stretches of authority 
by Wentworth and his council had excited severe animad- 
version. He had been repeatedly threatened with a Fel- 
ton or Ravaillac ;§ and even his friend Laud, though so 
great an admirer of " thorough" exertions of power, began 
to intimate a wish that an appearance of moderation might 
be mingled with his vigour. || But his friends received a 
new alarm from the severity of his proceedings against 
Francis Annesley, Lord Mountnorris. That nobleman held 
the office of vice-treasurer in Ireland, and had enjoyed 
the confidence of Wentworth on his accession to the go- 
vernment. A coolness, however, had arisen between them, 
and was speedily aggravated into a serious quarrel. The 
deputy represented to the king some fees and offices of 
which his antagonist might be deprived without disadvan- 
tage to the service ;^[ and while the vice-treasurer found 
his emoluments diminished, his resentment was yet more 
inflamed by an unsuccessful attempt to fix on him the 
charge of corruption in the exercise of his office. 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 451, 454. f Ibid, 504. J Ibid, 465. 
§ Ibid, pp. 371, 412. || Ibid, p. 479. J Ibid, p. 392. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 331 

While this mutual animosity was in a course of daily- 
aggravation, a serious result arose from a trivial incident. 
As Wentworth sat one day in the presence chamber, during 
a severe fit of the gout, one of his retinue occasioned him 
much pain, by accidentally moving a stool against his foot. 
The incident having been mentioned at the lord chan- 
cellor's table, one of the guests observed to Lord Mount- 
norris, who happened to be present, that the offender was 
his namesake and kinsman. " Perhaps," replied his lord- 
ship, " it was done in revenge of the public affront which 
I have received from the lord deputy ; but I have a bro- 
ther, who would not have taken such a revenge."* 

These unguarded words, when reported by some offi- 
cious courtiers to Wentworth, appeared in his eyes preg- 
nant with sedition. He privately procured the king's com- 
mission to bring his antagonist to trial; but deferred it 
till a full security added to the severity of his vengeance. 
At length, without any intimation of his designs, he one 
evening sent a summons to the principal military officers 
in Dublin, and amongst the rest Lord Mountnorris, to 
attend him next morning at a council of war. After they 
had taken their places, the lord deputy, as commander-in- 
chief and president, informed the astonished assembly that 
he had called them together to receive, at their hands, 
reparation and justice against Lord Mountnorris. He pro- 
duced a written statement of the words spoken at the 
chancellor's table ; he proved the allegation by witnesses ; 
he recounted two articles of war, by one of which dis- 
graceful words spoken of any person in the army were 
punishable with imprisonment, and with ignominious dis- 
missal from the service ; while by the other, death was 
awarded to any individual who, by speech or actions, 
should stir up mutiny, or " impeach obedience to the prin- 
cipal officer." He maintained that the expressions of 
Mountnorris were amenable to both these laws ; and that, 
as a captain in the service, he was properly brought to the 
summary justice of a court-martial. 

* Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 187. Nalson's Collections, vol. i., p. 5.9. 



332 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

In vain was this course of procedure objected to by- 
Lord Mountnorris, who had now risen from the council 
table, and presented himself in the usual station of the 
accused. In vain did he urge that he was taken wholly- 
unaware s ; that he ought to be allowed time to prepare 
his defence, with the advice of counsel ; that words, spo- 
ken in the course of conversation, at the distance of 
several months, could with difficulty be ascertained ; and 
that he could produce upwards of twenty witnesses to 
prove that there was nothing malicious or offensive, either 
in the expressions he had used, or in the mode of uttering 
them. Wentworth replied, that none of his requisitions 
could be granted according to the forms of a court-mar- 
tial ; that he must simply confess or deny the facts ; and 
that the council must then directly proceed to vote him 
innocent or guilty of the charge. 

The members of the court, though awed by the tone 
and presence of their governor, revolted from the idea of 
condemning to death a peer and a member of the govern- 
ment for so trivial an offence. To avoid the capital part 
of the sentence, they requested that the lord deputy would 
permit the two charges to be separated; but he sternly 
replied that they must vote the offender guilty of " both 
or of none." Even Lord Moore, who had originally given 
the information, and now appeared as a witness for the 
prosecution, after having delivered his testimony, was 
commanded by Wentworth to resume his seat in the 
court, and judge the man whom he had accused. The 
council proceeded to deliberate and vote, under the eye of 
the lord deputy; and their sentence adjudged Mountnorris 
to be imprisoned, deprived of all his offices, ignominiously 
dismissed from the army, incapacitated from ever again 
serving ; and finally, to be shot, or beheaded, at the plea- 
sure of the general.* 

The report of a sentence, so cruel and so unjustly ob- 
tained, filled the empire with indignation and clamour. 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., pp. 500, 501. Rush worth, vol. viii., p. 187, 
et seq. Clarendon, vol. i., p. 220, et seq. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 333 

Wentworth's friends in London entreated him to furnish 
them with some satisfactory explanation of reports, to 
which they could not listen with patience, and which were 
avouched in a manner they durst not contradict.* The 
concealment of the charge for so many months ; the ex- 
cessive disproportion of the punishment to the offence ; 
the admission of a witness to sit as judge; the presence 
and control of the accuser during the whole trial, — these 
were all recounted as incapable of palliation. Even the 
conduct of Buckingham, the great object of national ha- 
tred, was advantageously contrasted with that of Went- 
worth : it was remembered that, at the Isle of Rhe, the 
duke had merely dismissed from the army some officers 
who had conspired against him; while Wentworth had 
caused a colleague in office, and a former friend, to be 
sentenced to death for an imprudent expression, f 

The apologies of the lord deputy only showed a con- 
sciousness of guilt. As his principal defence, he urged 
that he had been merely passive in the transaction ; that 
he had not voted, nor even suffered his brother to vote ; 
that he had sat uncovered and silent while the council 
deliberated on their sentence ; that he had never intended 
to put Mountnorris to death, but only to punish his inso- 
lence ; and that he had united with the members of the 
court in obtaining a pardon for the capital part of the 
ofTence.J His behaviour subsequent to the trial seemed 
an aggravation of his misconduct. After the sentence was 
passed, he told Mountnorris that now, if he chose, he had 
only to order execution ; that he would, however, petition 
for his life, adding, " that he would sooner lose his hand, 
than Mountnorris should lose his head."§ His exultation, 
indeed, was scarcely limited either by prudence or decency ; 
for he exclaimed before the whole court, that "the sen- 
tence was just and noble, and for his part he would not 
lose his share of the honour of it."|| 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 508. + Ibid, p. 510. 

t Ibid, pp. 498, 41)9, 505, &c. § Strafford's Trial, p. 190. 

|| Ibid, p. 195. Lad j Mountnorris was a near relative of Wentworth's 



334 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

But the most singular part of the transaction remains 
yet to be mentioned. Went worth felt the necessity of 
exerting himself to conciliate the English court, and to 
procure the offices of Mountnorris for his favourites. To 
effect the latter, he proposed to distribute six thousand 
pounds among the principal ministers ; # but Lord Cot- 
tington, an old and dexterous courtier, to whom the 
business was intrusted, " fell upon the right way," as 
he informs us ; and " gave the money to him who 
could really do the business, which was the king him- 

beloved wife, Arabella Hollis, whose premature death had lately caused 
him the most bitter affliction. Trusting to the influence of this strong 
tie, she became an intercessor for her condemned husband, and addressed 
the following pathetic letter to Wentworth : — 
My Lord, 

1 beseech your lordship, for the tender mercy of God, take off 
your heavy hand from my dear lord ; and, for her sake who is with God, 
be pleased not to make me and my poor infants miserable, as we must of 
necessity be by the hurt you do to him. God knows, my lord, 1 am a 
distressed poor woman, and know not what to say more, than to beg 
upon my knees, with my homely prayers and tears, that it will please 
the Almighty to incline your lordship's heart to mildness towards him : 
for if your lordship continue my lord in restraint, and lay disgraces upon 
him, I have too much cause to fear your lordship will bring a speedy end 
to his life and troubles, and make me and all mine for ever miserable. 
Good my lord, pardon these woful lines of a disconsolate creature ; and be 
pleased, for Christ Jesus' sake, to take this my humble suit into your 
favourable consideration, and to have mercy upon me and mine ; and 
God will, I hope, reward it into the bosom of you, and your sweet chil- 
dren by my kinswoman : and for the memory of her, I beseech your 
lordship to compassionate the distressed condition of me, 
Your lordship's most humble 

and disconsolate servant, 

Jane Mountnorris. 

This letter, which is inserted in Clarendon's State Papers, vol. i., p. 
449, is there endorsed with these words : " A copy of Lady Mountnorris's 
letter to the Earl o& Strafford, when her husband was in prison, under 
sentence of death by martial law ; and he was so hard-hearted as to give 
her no relief." 

* According to general report, the distribution was to take place in 
the following manner : — to Lord Cottington, 2000/. ; to the lord privy 
seal, 1000/. ; to the Marquis of Hamilton, 1000/. ; and the other 2000/. 
to the two secretaries. — Letter from the Rev. Mr. Garrard to Went- 
worth, in Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 508. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 335 

self." # The present happened to prove opportune to his 
majesty, who was then in the act of purchasing an estate ; 
and Wentworth, without delay, received an official letter, 
authorizing him to dispose of the offices according to his 
desire.f 

The approbation of the king might silence murmurs 
within the precincts of the palace, but it was far from 
suppressing the general expressions of reproach; and 
these unfortunately met with new excitements. The death 
of the Earl of Clanricarde, which took place about this 
time, was attributed to his despondency, arising from the 
ruin of his influence, and the danger of his fortune by the 
proceedings in Galway;J and the fate of the sheriff 
of Galway, who died in the prison to which he had been 
committed till the payment of his fine, was ascribed to 
the unjust author of his hardships. The first of these 
charges, indeed, Wentworth could treat with ridicule; 
" they might as well," says he, " have imputed to me for 
a crime, his being three score and ten years old." § But 
the death of the sheriff was not to be thus dismissed, 
coupled as it was with a false but specious report that 
Wentworth had refused bail, to the amount of forty 
thousand pounds, for the brother of Clanricarde. || One 
exaggeration now succeeded another; and he had the 
mortification to find it currently believed, that, on occasion 
of some displeasure, he had actually caned one Esmond, 
a ship-owner, to death .% Wentworth was exceedingly 
alive to public opinion : the reports concerning his conduct, 

* Letter from Lord Cottington to Wentworth, in Strafford's Letters, 
vol. i,, p. 511. 

f Ibid, p. 512. t Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 492. 

§ Letter from Wentworth to the king, Strafford's Letters, vol. i., 492. 

|| The fate of the sheriff he seems to have viewed with perfect cool- 
ness ; his only source of regret was the clamour it excited. " I am full 
of belief," says he in a letter to his friend Wandesford, u that they will 
lay the charge of Dancy the sheriff's death to me. My arrows are cruel 
that wound so mortally; but I should be sorry the king should lose his 
fine." — Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 13. 

% Ibid, p. 6. Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 888. 



336 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

which both friends and enemies now brought to his ears, 
filled him with resentment and anguish; nor could the 
repeated advices of the king and of Laud, who entreated 
him to despise accusations which no one durst avow, 
subdue the anxiety excited by the general murmurs. 

He was not, however, of a temper to sink tamely under 
popular clamour. Resolving to brave those rumours 
which he could not suppress, and to confound his enemies 
by the assumed intrepidity of conscious innocence, he 
requested leave of the king to come over to England. 
The subordination which he had established, and the 
dread of his speedy return, would, he trusted, prevent the 
discontents in Ireland from breaking out into any active 
opposition; and he hoped to bring back, in open and 
distinguished marks of royal approbation, an invincible 
bulwark to his authority. 

His reception at the English court was highly flatter- 
ing; and when questioned by the king on the state of 
Ireland, the explanation of his measures was marked by 
all the address and vigour that he had shown in their exe- 
cution. In a speech delivered before the king and the 
committee for Irish affairs, he gave a perspicuous and 
forcible description of all his principal improvements. He 
treated separately of the services which he had rendered 
to the church, to the army, to the revenue, to manufac- 
tures and commerce, to the laws and the administration 
of justice. The former neglect of these departments he 
contrasted with their present flourishing condition ; and 
augured still greater improvements from a continuance of 
his auspicious system. He showed his concern for Ire- 
land by certain requisitions for its relief : and in proof of 
his devotion to his sovereign, he explained how all his 
measures tended to increase the revenue and authority of 
the crown. To divest this exposition of the appearance of 
presumption, he declared that if he had any merit, it was 
only that of a willing obedience. " I have been," he 
added, " a dead instrument in the hands of his majesty, 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 337 

without motion or effect, further than I have been guided 
by the gracious direction of my sovereign." He then ad- 
verted to the many calumnies circulated against him ; and 
lamented " the decayed and backsliding condition of Ire- 
land when committed to his charge," which had rendered 
an appearance of severity indispensably necessary for his 
majesty's service. " He acknowledged his manifold infir- 
mities, and his sovereign's great goodness, that had been 
pleased to pass by them, and to accept of his weak endea" 
vours in the pursuit of his duty." In particular, he owned 
himself liable to a warmth and choler which he could not 
at all times temper and -govern ; yet, by the time some 
more cold winters had blown upon it, he should, he 
trusted, be able to master this unruly passion. Meantime, 
he w T ould watch over it as well as he could ; and he 
humbly entreated his majesty and their lordships to par- 
don any excesses into which it might unadvisedly and 
suddenly have led him ; a grace which he requested with 
the more confidence, as the defects of his temper had 
hitherto, he thanked God, injured no one but himself. # 

The effect of this dexterous discourse corresponded fully 
to his hopes. The king declared that his conduct required 
no apology, that no unnecessary severity had been prac- 
tised, that every thing had been done in the best manner 
for his service. The lords of the committee loaded him 
with applause ; and all united in exhorting him to perfect 
the work which he had so successfully begun. Nor was 
the fame of his meritorious actions, and of his favour with 
the sovereign, confined to the court : it was quickly dif- 
fused over the capital and the kingdom, and his reputation 
among the partisans of the government became unbounded. 
An opportunity immediately occurred of binding the 

* This account of his reception and discourse at court is given by 
Wentworth himself, in a letter to his confidential friend Wandesford, to 
whom he had committed the government of Ireland in his absence. It is 
inserted in Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., pp. 13 to 22. The Irish transac- 
tions to which it adverts, have all been related in the text. 



338 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

king by new testimonies of his zeal. Among other expe- 
dients for raising supplies, without the intervention of 
parliament, recourse had been had to a new levy under 
the name of ship-money. The estimated expense of 
equipping a navy was apportioned among all the counties 
of England ; and, under this pretext, less invidious, it 
was hoped, than either a subsidy or a loan, a general con- 
tribution was demanded.* Still, both the necessity of the 
imposition, and its amount, being left entirely at the dis- 
cretion of the monarch, the payments were made with 
great repugnance ; and the aversion with which men shrink 
from rebellion, seemed alone to restrain the nation from 
resistance. In this state of things, Wentworth, as presi- 
dent of the council of York, was enabled to render an 
essential service to the court, by procuring the assent of 
all within his jurisdiction to the contribution. His activity 
and dexterity were attended with their wonted success; 
and, while the officers of the revenue, in other parts of the 
kingdom, levied the imposition amidst murmurs and threats, 
he could send to the king as favourable accounts from 
York, as he had formerly transmitted from Ireland. " In 
pursuit of your commands," said he, " I have effectually, 
both in public and private, recommended the justice and 
necessity of the shipping business ; and so clearly shown 
it to be, not only for the honour of the kingdom in general, 
but for every man's particular safety, that I am most con- 
fident the assessment this next year will be universally and 
cheerfully answered within this jurisdiction."f 

Amidst this accumulation of services, Wentworth felt 
increasing uneasiness that there appeared no indication of 
an intention to acknowledge his zeal by some public mark 
of royal favour. His exposition of his prosperous labours 
in Ireland had, indeed, been received with unbounded com- 
mendation ; but this commendation had been confined to 
the walls of the council-chamber, and was known to the 

* Clarendon, vol. i., p. 68. 

f Wentworth to the king, in Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 26. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 339 

nation only by unaccredited report. Would it not be said, 
that if the king really held the services of Wentworth in 
such high estimation, he would evince it by the usual dis- 
tinction of a superior title ? If this cheap and ordinary 
reward were withheld, would it not be concluded that the 
king, though compelled by reasons of state to employ 
obliging expressions towards the lord deputy, was far 
from viewing his conduct with unqualified approbation ? 
A superior title, therefore, now appeared to Wentworth, 
not only an object of gratification, but a necessary safe- 
guard to his authority. Actuated by these considerations, 
he ventured, for the second time, to approach the king 
with a humble petition for some public mark of his favour, 
to refute the malicious insinuations of his enemies, and 
prove that his majesty disbelieved their calumnies. # Dis- 
trusting his own influence, after his former experience, he 
disclosed this desire of his heart to Laud ; and entreated 
him to concur in earnestly urging his majesty to confer on 
him an earldom, or some other public mark of distinction. 
He represented to the archbishop the impolicy, as well as 
the hardship, of withholding this testimony of approbation; 
and assured him, that if he were sent back to Ireland 
thus unrequited, it would shake his authority, and injure 
the public service.f 

But the reasons which formerly led Charles to refuse 
this request were now exceedingly strengthened. Partly 
in the prosecution of the public service, partly for the 
gratification of his own violent passions, Wentworth had 
incurred a great additional load of public reproach, and 
Charles could perceive that, whatever odium he removed 
from his minister, he must necessarily accumulate on him- 
self. The more earnest the solicitation, the more insup- 
portable the load, the less advisable was it for him to 
interfere. The lord deputy, though extremely sensible to 

* Letter from "Wentworth to the king, in Strafford's Letters, vol. 
ii., p. 27. 
f Wentworth to Laud, ibid, vol. ii., p. 28. 

z 2 



340 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

public reproach, was not of a disposition to |give way to 
despondency ; and when the immediate preservation of a 
servant was not in question, it seemed imprudent for the 
king, in his present circumstances, to incur any odium 
which it was practicable to avoid. The reply of Charles 
was, therefore, so pointed and decisive, as to bar all hopes 
of compliance. He assured Wentworth that the cause of 
his request, if known, would rather encourage than silence 
his enemies ; that their calumnies would increase with the 
discovery of his apprehensions, and their attacks become 
more bold and dangerous when they perceived that they 
were feared. " The marks of my favour," continued he, 
"which stop malicious tongues, are neither places nor 
titles, but the little welcome I give to accusers, and the 
willing ear I give to my servants. This," added he, " is 
not to disparage these favours, but to show their proper 
use, which is not to quell envy, but to reward services. 
They have truly the effect of rewards, only when conferred 
by the master without the servant's importunity ; and that 
otherwise, men judged' them to proceed rather from the 
servant's wit than the master's favour." With an attempt 
at pleasantry, ill-calculated to soften his refusal, he con- 
cluded thus : " I will end with a rule that may serve for a 
statesman, a courtier, or a lover, — never make an apology 
till you be accused."* 

A repulse, conveyed in terms so unqualified, seems to 
have inflicted a deep wound on the mind of Wentworth. 
In his reply to the king, he dwelt on the intimations con- 
cerning his fears and apprehensions ; and reminded his 
majesty that, in the service of the crown at least, he had 
never betrayed timidity. To make the king sensible how 
ill his rewards corresponded with his merits, he informed 
his majesty that his jurisdiction in the northern counties 
was now so completely reconciled to ship-money, as to be 
fitted for setting an example to the rest of the kingdom ; 
and he advised, if the south were likely to prove refractory, 
* The king to Wentworth, Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 32. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 341 

to send down the first writs for the year to York, where 
there would be no opposition.* 

The chagrin caused to Wentworth by this disappointment 
often broke out in his subsequent letters. On one occasion, 
where he urges his majesty to allow the public officers in 
Ireland a liberal per centage out of certain branches of the 
public revenue, with a view to quicken their activity, he 
continues : " Admit me to say, reward well applied is of 
extreme advantage to the service of kings. It is most 
certain, that not one man of very many serves his master 
for love, but for his own ends and preferment ; and that 
he is in the rank of the best servants, who can be content 
to serve his master together with himself. In fine, I am 
most confident, were your majesty purposed for a while 
to use the excellent wisdom God hath given you, in the 
constant, right, and quick application of rewards and 
punishments, it were a thing most easy for your servants, 
in a very few years, under your conduct and protection, so 
to settle all your affairs and dominions, as should render 
you, not only at home, but abroad also, the most power- 
ful king in Christendom. "*f- To his private friends, and to 
Laud in particular, his expressions of mortification were 
more undisguised. J In a letter to Mr. George Butler he 
says, that, as to rewards and preferments, he must now 
look for them in the next world ; " for, in good faith, 
George, all here below are grown wondrous indifferent. "§ 

With these impressions, Wentworth returned to his go- 
vernment in Ireland. If he had failed to obtain those 
public marks of distinction, by which he hoped to con- 
found and silence the voice of detraction, he at least found 
himself armed with ample authority to chastise every op- 
position to his power, or insult to his feelings. Mount- 
norris, and all who had appealed from his sentences to the 
English court, were remitted to his disposal ; || and if he 

* Wentworth to the king, in Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 36. 
f Ibid, p. 41. + Wentworth to Laud, ibid, p. 109. 

§ Wentworth to Butler, ibid, p. 40. 
|| Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 15. 



342 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

could resolve to endure the odium of arbitrary rule, with- 
out openly implicating the king, there seemed to be no 
restraint on the exercise of his power. 

His subsequent measures in the government of Ireland 
were merely a continuation of those already described. 
The awe inspired by his vigour confirmed the tranquillity 
it had procured ; and under his vigilant eye the infant 
cultivation, manufactures, and commerce of the country, 
began to increase and prosper. While the subject enjoyed 
security, from the entire suppression of internal insurrec- 
tions and depredations, the royal revenues, arising from 
produce and consumption, experienced a rapid increase. 
Nor did Wentworth cease to replenish the exchequer by 
rigorous inquiries into defective titles. He found means 
to make out the right of the king to the whole district of 
Ormond ; and the OByrnes in Wicklow were obliged to 
redeem their large possessions from a similar award, by 
the payment of fifteen thousand pounds to the crown. By 
such means, of which some were as laudable as others 
were irreconcilable to j ustice, he procured an ample supply 
for the expenditure of his government, without any of 
those new demands or impositions which might have fur- 
nished an occasion to contest his authority. 5 * 

Ambition had not so wholly engrossed the mind of 
Wentworth, as to render him insensible to the softer pas- 
sions of domestic life. His attachments, however, were 
more ardent than fortunate. About three years after the 
death of his first wife, he married Arabella Hollis, daugh- 
ter to the Earl of Clare, and sister to the Honourable 
Denzil Hollis, who afterwards distinguished himself on 
the popular side in the reign of Charles the First, yet 
received a title from Charles the Second. This lady, of 
whose beauty and accomplishments contemporary writers 
speak with admiration, was beloved by her husband with 
all the characteristic ardour of his disposition. In the 
course of six years, she brought him two sons and three 
* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii. pp. 89, 97, 135, 175- 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 343 

daughters ; but the loss of the younger son, which hap- 
pened soon after his birth, was followed by the more 
lamented death of the mother. So violent was the anguish 
which Wentworth experienced from this unexpected ca- 
lamity, that his confidential friends remained with him 
continually for several days and nights, and were even 
then hardly able to overcome his despair.*" Several year s 
afterwards, when the Lady Clare requested that the edu- 
cation of her grand-daughters might be committed to her 
charge, he delivered over those pledges of his tender affec- 
tion, and recalled the incomparable virtues of their mother 
with much sensibility and enthusiasm.f 

The tender remembrance of Arabella Hollis did not, 
however, prevent the growth of another passion in the 
breast of Wentworth, who was still in the prime of life. 
Captivated with the charms of Elizabeth Rhodes, the 
daughter of Sir Godfrey Rhodes, an English gentleman of 
considerable rank and fortune, he resolved to make her his 
wife : and though reluctant to own in public his attach- 
ment to a female of inferior family, yet he allowed only a 
year to elapse from the death of his former wife, before 
the private solemnization of his third nuptials. It was 
not till his arrival in Ireland, whither the lady was con- 
veyed by his friend RadclifTe, at an interval of several 
months from his own journey, that he openly acknow- 
ledged her as his wife.J On this occasion, he thought it 
necessary to apologize to Laud for a step which might 
appear imprudent ; and, having explained his reasons for 
the match, he hinted that the prelate would do well to 
imitate his example. Laud, in reply, wished him and his 
consort much felicity, and expressed his confidence that 
the step had been taken after due deliberation : but as to 
his following the same course, " I must needs," said he, 
" confess to your lordship, that having been married to a 

'Radclifte's Essay. Ibid, pp. 59, 60. 

t Wentworth to Lady Clare, Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 379. 

+ RadclifFe's Essay. 



344 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 



very troublesome and unquiet wife before, I should be ill- 
advised now, being above sixty, to go marry another of a 
more wayward and troublesome generation/'*' Elizabeth 
Rhodes, however, bore her new dignities with incompara- 
ble meekness and humility v Far from acquiring arrogance 
from her unexpected elevation, she remained impressed 
with an overpowering sense of her husband's superiority, 
and accounted it a degree of presumption even to approach 
him with her letters. This lowliness was by no means 
displeasing to Wentworth, and was repaid by a conduct 
uniformly condescending and kind. In a letter, where he 
endeavours to remove the excess of her timidity, he tells 
her, " it is no presumption for you to write me ; the fel- 
lowship of marriage ought to produce sentiments of love 
and equality, rather than any apprehension. "f 

In the earlier part of life, Wentworth had entered freely 
into the social amusements usual among persons of his 
rank ; but short and uncertain intervals of relaxation were 
now with difficulty snatched from the pressure of public 
affairs. Hawking was his favourite field-sport ; and find- 
ing the northern part of Wicklow well adapted to this 
amusement, he erected there a mansion for his summer 
residence. It was built of wood, and the expense did not 
exceed twelve hundred pounds ; yet so magnificent did it 
appear to the rude natives of Wicklow, that, to silence the 
envy excited by vulgar rumour, he gave out that it was 
intended for the reception of his majesty, when he should 
find leisure to enjoy the exercise of hunting in this part of 
his dominions.;}; The games of Primero and Mayo, at 
which he played with uncommon skill, he indulged in only 
during the Christmas festivities, or occasionally after sup- 
per, the hour of which corresponded to the fashionable 
dinner-hour of the present age. It was in the interval 
between this meal and the hours devoted to sleep, that he 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 125. 

t These letters from Wentworth to his wife are copied in the Biogra- 
phia Britannica, from the originals in the Museum Thoresbianum. 
J Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 106. * 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 345 

found his chief period of recreation. He would retire at 
times with his company to an inner room, and continue 
there for hours, relating anecdotes with a freedom and 
pleasantry which surprised those guests who, till then, 
had seen him distant, ceremonious, and haughty amidst 
his official avocations. 

Yet, during his most unguarded moments of hilarity, 
Wentworth never indulged to excess in the pleasures of 
the table. He never, we are assured, in the course of his 
life, degraded himself by one instance of intoxication. In 
Ireland, where excessive drinking was an epidemical vice, 
he thought it expedient to set a strict example ; and, on 
those public occasions which had often proved a scene of 
intemperate riot, his rule was to drink only the healths of 
the king, the queen, and the prince. There was no fault 
which he accounted more dangerous, or which he repre- 
hended more severely in his servants, than a proneness to 
intoxication. # 

Amidst his various plans for the increase of the public 
revenue, Wentworth did not altogether overlook the im- 
provement of his private fortune. In conjunction with his 
friend Sir George RadclifFe, he farmed the Irish customs ; 
and, in consequence of their amelioration from the flourish- 
ing state of the country, there was derived from them, in 
a few years, an annual profit of eight thousand pounds, of 
which two thirds fell to his share.f The monopoly of 
tobacco, which he also farmed, proved, from the increasing 
consumption of the article, productive beyond expectation ; 
and the lands in Ireland, which he purchased at an incon- 
siderable price, became, under proper cultivation, a pro- 
mising source of wealth. J 

It deserves to be remarked to his honour, that, with 
the exception of the tobacco monopoly, none of the means 
by which he increased his fortune were liable to censure, 

* RadclifFe's Essay. 

t Wentworth to Laud, Strafford's Letters, vol ii., p. 137. 

: Ibid, p. 1 OG. 



346 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

or even to suspicion. Far from sharing the plunder of the 
demesnes which he had recovered for the crown, he stren- 
uously exerted himself to prevent their falling a prey to 
the rapacity of other courtiers. In the exercise of his 
office, he refused even the customary presents; and the 
English court was amused with an anecdote of the servant 
of a person of distinction, who had been sent to him with 
a present, and who was so indignant at an unexpected 
refusal, that he, in his turn, refused the gratuity of Went- 
worth. # It was his frequent boast, that he did not come 
into the service to repair a broken fortune ; and that the 
public had never suffered from his desire to bequeath inor- 
dinate wealth to his posterity. 

His judgment in the management of his private affairs 
appears the more conspicuous, when we consider the mag- 
nificence of his mode of living. At his own charge he 
maintained a retinue of fifty attendants, besides his troop 
of sixty horsemen, which he originally raised and equipped 
at an expense of six thousand pounds, and which con- 
tinued to cost him twelve hundred pounds a-year.*f His 
taste for building added considerably to his expenditure. 
Besides repairing and beautifying his several residences 
as governor, he erected a palace at Naas, in Kildare, for 
the reception of the king, as he declared, since it appeared 
to him derogatory to Ireland, that this part of the empire 
should alone present no accommodations to its sovereign. J 

In dwelling on the private scenes of Wentworth's life, 
we are apt to regret that he should ever have quitted a 
condition where he might have enjoyed respectability 
without envy. Such a reflection seems often to have re- 
curred to his own mind, amidst the uneasy aspirations of 
ambition. Even while he exults in the prosperous situa- 
tion of his government, he adds, " yet I could possess 
myself with much more satisfaction and repose under my 

* Secretary Windebank to Wentworth, in Strafford's Letters, vol. i., 
p. 160. 

f Wentworth to Cottington, ibid, p. 128. 
1 Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 106. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 347 

own roof, than with all the preferment and power which 
the favour of a crown can communicate."* Amidst his 
most ambitious plans, we find him looking forward to 
some happier period, when, escaping from the fatigues of 
office, he should be enabled to deliver himself up wholly 
to retirement and reflection. " Neither preferments, nor 
whatsoever else men most esteem in this world, will, I 
trust, tie me to the importunities of public affairs during 
my whole life, or so far infatuate my senses as to make 
me neglect the cares of a future and permanent state. "f 

These, however, were only the transient suggestions of 
bodily sickness or mental depression : even while he ut- 
tered them, he was soliciting new honours, and prosecuting 
some of his least justifiable enterprises. The agitations 
of ambition had not only unfitted his mind for tranquillity, 
but had induced several premature infirmities. During 
the first years of his administration in Ireland, his extreme 
solicitude for the accomplishment of his plans had led him 
to forego all his usual recreations ; and his anxiety to gain 
the approbation of the English court had even tempted 
him to write all his voluminous despatches with his own 
hand.;}: To such incessant labour of body and mind, his 
constitution, naturally far from robust, began to prove un- 
equal. By the paroxysms of a gout, become inveterate 
from neglect of exercise, he was at times confined for 
months to his apartments : still had he the imprudence to 
aggravate its pains. Although the posture of writing was 
peculiarly uneasy to him, he continued to employ his own 
hand in some parts of his correspondence ; and was even 
carried from bed to write his more secret despatches. § On 
his second arrival in Ireland, his gout was aggravated by 
the re-appearance of the aguish complaints which, at an 
earlier period of his life, had reduced him to a dangerous 
debility. While he laboured under severe pain, accompa- 

* "Wentworth to Sir Edward Stanhope, Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 303. 
f Wentworth to Mr. George Butler, ibid, p. 420. 
+ Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 203. 
§ Ibid, pp. 371, 420. Vol. ii., p. 25G. 



348 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

nied with an intermittent pulse, faint sweats, and depression 
of spirits, he began to prognosticate " that no long life 
awaited him here below." # 

The effects of his bodily infirmities were aggravated by 
many vexations in the discharge of his office. Occasion- 
ally he found that neither the explicit regulations which 
he had stipulated, nor his perpetual labours for the benefit 
of the crown, could prevent the king from gratifying impor- 
tunate courtiers at the price of his mortification. Appoint- 
ments in the army had always been at the disposal of the 
lord deputy, who also acted as commander-in-chief; but 
Wentworth saw the command of one of his companies 
snatched from a friend to whom he had granted it, and 
given to the dependent of a rival courtier, though he had 
earnestly solicited both the king and the ministers that 
he might be spared an affront so derogatory to his dignity, 
and so dangerous to his utility.f He had expressly stipu- 
lated that no grant should be made on the Irish establish- 
ment without his knowledge and concurrence; yet he 
found himself unexpectedly assailed by authorized de- 
mands on the public treasury ;J and what galled him more 
deeply than all, the young Earl of Clanricarde, by his 
influence at court, and unknown to Wentworth, succeeded 
in procuring an indemnity for his losses in Gal way. § The 
king, it was whispered, beheld his receipts from the cus- 
toms with an eye of jealousy; and Lord Holland, who 
had ready access to the ear of the queen, even presumed 
to circulate that he was liable to accesses of lunacy. || 
Endeavours were used to produce a breach between him 
and Laud ; % and so deeply did his intimacy with that 
prelate offend his early patron the lord treasurer, that 
Wentworth looked on the death of the latter as a deliver- 
ance from the most dangerous of his adversaries.** 

* Strafford's Letters, vol ii., pp. 143, 145. 
t Ibid, vol. i., pp. 128, 138, 142, 144. 
X Wentworth to Windebank, ibid, vol. ii., p. 201. 
§ Wentworth to the king, ibid, p. 83. || Ibid, pp. Ill, 127, 284. 

f Ibid, pp. 133, 265. ** Ibid, vol. i., p. 411. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 349 

To such contradictions and calumnies, Wentworth be- 
trayed an aching sensibility, and his mind was kept in per- 
petual distraction. He was indeed armed with every power 
to punish the malignant within his own j urisdiction ; and 
his vigorous chastisements received his majesty's fullest 
approbation. 1 * But he was informed that more virulent 
libels were circulated against him in England, beyond his 
reach ; and his feelings were tormented by hints, that 
these attacks gained ground from his majesty's refusal to 
countenance him by some public mark of approbation. y- 
Unable to endure this any longer, Wentworth drew up a 
list of the calumnies circulated against him, which he 
transmitted to Laud, for the decision of the king. J The 
archbishop, though extremely irritable and impatient of 
censure, was yet shocked at a weakness which tended to 
destroy both the peace and respectability of his friend ; 
and, therefore, in reporting the king's utter disbelief of 
these calumnies, advised him " never to appear openly in 
his defence, till he was openly charged. "§ 

That violence of temper which had impelled him to per- 
secute Lord Mountnorris, again engaged him in a contest 
extremely prejudicial to his reputation. The Lord Chan- 
cellor Loftus and his family had exerted themselves to 
promote the lord deputy's views, and had enjoyed more of 
his favour than almost any other noble house in Ireland. 
Amidst this interchange of benefits and acknowledgments, 
Sir John GifFord, who had married the chancellor's daugh- 
ter, having demanded, in behalf of his wife, some provi- 
sion which his father-in-law denied, brought an action 
before the lord deputy in the Castle-chamber, where he 
obtained an award entirely in his favour. To this judg- 

* Laud to Wentworth, in Strafford's Letters, vol. ii.,p. 103. " The 
punishment of impertinent, unjust, clamorous persons, his majesty liketh 
well, that thereby you may ease both him and yourself." 

t Laud to Wentworth, ibid, vol. ii., p. 42. Laud, in giving this hint, 
ironically adds, " but the thoughts of princes be deeper than other men's." 

£ Wentworth to Laud, ibid, p. 105. 

§ Laud to Wentworth, ibid, pp. 126, 127. 



350 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

ment the chancellor refused to submit, on the ground that 
the action ought to have been brought in the ordinary 
courts of law, and that the tribunal before which it was 
tried was both illegal and partial. Enraged at this resist- 
ance, Wentworth procured and rigidly enforced an order to 
sequester him from the council, to deprive him of the seals, 
and to commit him to prison till his obstinacy should be 
subdued. # The clamour excited by this extreme severity 
to a minister of such dignity and reputation, was aggra- 
vated by the discovery of some letters, which were said to 
indicate an intercourse more gallant than decorous between 
the lord deputy and Lady Giffbrd.f The influence of 
Wentworth at the English court was not, however, to be 
shaken : the appeal of the lord chancellor was disregard- 
ed ; and himself compelled to purchase the forgiveness of 
Wentworth by submission to the award, and an acknow- 
ledgment of his error. J 

But transactions of superior importance now began to 
demand his exertions on a more extended theatre. Hitherto 
the king had restricted even his most confidential commu- 
nications with Wentworth to Irish affairs, and had never 
demanded his counsels with regard to the general interests 
of the empire. After the death of Buckingham, Charles 
appears to have entertained the resolution of confining his 
ministers to separate departments of government, while 
himself, the great presiding spirit, should inform and guide 
the whole. His jealousy of a man so lately an opposition- 
ist, and the enemy of Buckingham, seems also to have 
yielded only gradually to devoted obedience and a series of 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., pp. 69, 161, 164, 172, 179, 196,227, 228. 

-|- Leland, vol. iii., p. 40. 

t Ibid, pp. 261, 389. Although Wentworth finally triumphed in this 
affair, yet, in a letter to the king, (p. 161,) he discovers no small appre- 
hension of the clamour which it excited. He excuses the whole of his 
conduct by alleging, that he merely acted in obedience to the royal autho- 
rity ; and the obstinacy of the chancellor he attributes " to the evil spirit 
of insubordination which began to trouble the age." 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 351 

important services.* The project of a war, which would 
have affected Ireland more immediately than the rest of his 
dominions, appears to have been the first occasion on 
which Charles broke through his reserve, and demanded 
the opinion of Wentworth on a question relative to the 
empire at large. 

The expedient of ship-money had proved productive 
even beyond the sanguine expectations of the court. It 
had indeed been resisted by Hampden and others, and its 
legality solemnly argued before the judges of England ; 
but the great majority having declared in its favour, it 
now seemed to rest on the surest foundation. The cour- 
tiers looked on this impost as " a spring and magazine 
that had no bottom, as an everlasting supply for all occa- 
sions, "f The king, forgetting his former difficulties, be- 
gan to meditate the enterprise of recovering the Palatinate 
by the aid of Protestant allies; and as France, then at 
war with Spain, longed to engage England in the quarrel, 
the rising ascendancy of the queen was employed to acce- 
lerate the warlike resolutions of her husband. Against 
these projects, Laud, in consternation, remonstrated ; 
declaring that they would involve the king in all his former 
difficulties, and ultimately lead to the sacrifice of his ser- 
vants, f As the plans of Wentworth, for promoting the 
trade and cultivation of Ireland, depended essentially on 
the maintenance of an amicable intercourse with Spain, 
Charles, distracted by different counsels, judged it expe- 
dient to demand the lord deputy's opinion. § 

The reply of Wentworth is interesting, both for its saga- 
city and for the schemes which it developes for the con- 
solidation of an absolute monarchy. " He desired his 

* Clarendon observes, (Hist, of Reb. vol. i., p. 31,) that "the king ad- 
mitted very few into any degree of trust, who had ever discovered them- 
selves to be enemies to the duke, or against whom that favourite had 
manifested a notable prejudice." 

■f Clarendon, Hist, of Reb. vol. i., p. 68. 

X Laud to Wentworth, Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. Gfi. 

§ The king to Wentworth, ibid, p. 53. 



352 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

majesty to contrast the numerous losses which a war 
would bring to Great Britain, and the ruin of the rising 
prosperity of Ireland, with the incalculable advantages to 
the whole empire from carrying on the neutral trade during 
a war between France and Spain. He advised him to 
weigh the difficulty of making the members of a coali- 
tion act with cordiality, and not turn aside from views of 
private interest.*' Would a fleet, without an army, be 
sufficient to overawe continental enemies, and to con- 
firm backward allies ? Even were the conquest of the 
Palatinate accomplished, would France generously main- 
tain a large permanent army to guard a country unequal 
to its own defence? Above all, it was to be considered 
what resources would be requisite for so great an enter- 
prise, and how they were to be procured. Ship-money 
might be more peevishly granted during a war, from the 
want of means to bridle the refractory ; and should this 
impost prove sufficient for the equipment of a powerful 
fleet, what would be the consequence should this fleet, 
by any sinister accident, be lost ? Would it be possible 
to provid e another without having recourse to parliament ? 
And how unwise to summon that assembly at this season ! 
The opinion of the judges in favour of the levy of ship- 
money, he considered the greatest service which the bench 
had rendered, in his time, to the crown :f still the crown 
stood upon one leg, unless similar levies were also authorized 
for the land forces. This last measure, if once well for- 
tified, would render his majesty the most considerable 
monarch in Christendom, and for ever vindicate royalty at 
home from the conditions and restraints of subjects. Yet 
to this great enterprise the people could be won and 

* The powers who now projected a coalition for the recovery of the 
Palatinate, were the French, the Swedes, the Danes, and the Dutch. 

t Clarendon, the strenuous friend of the crown, was of a very different 
opinion : " The damage and mischief," says he, " cannot be expressed, 
that the crown and the state sustained by the deserved reproach and 
infamy that attended the judges, by being made use of in this, and like 
acts of power."— Hist, of Reb. vol. i., p. 70. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 353 

habituated only during the season of peace, when the 
crown could frame and execute its measures, unembar- 
rassed by necessity, and uncontrouled by the vicissitudes 
of war. Should it be necessary to do something in con- 
sequence of the faith pledged to the Elector Palatine, far 
better than a hostile contest would it be to employ two or 
three hundred thousand pounds in buying off the preten- 
ders to his crown. Where, it might be asked, could this 
money be procured ? From the subjects of England, who 
would find their advantage in purchasing, at so easy a rate, 
an exemption from the far heavier expenses of warfare. 
And by a general acquiescence in an imposition of this na- 
ture, a precedent would be gained, and the crown become 
possessed of an authority and right which would draw after 
it many and great advantages, more proper to be thought 
on at some other season than the present. " # 

To these representations the king listened, and the 
nation was saved from external hostilities.-)- 

But struggles far different from a distant war were now 
approaching ; and an example of rebellion was about to be 
set by the country which, in the preceding generation, had 
given a king to the empire. On the departure of James 
to assume the crown of England, his native kingdom ex- 
hibited every indication of permanent tranquillity. The 
factions of the nobles, which, in former times, had so 
often bereft the monarch of his crown or his life, were 
weakened by the progress of civilization, and almost 
ceased to exist on the removal of the court. The religious 
contests, which had agitated the nation for a century, were 
now tranquillized by a submission, almost universal, to 
the Calvinist creed and worship, as established by law ; 
and the king might exult in a total emancipation from 
ecclesiastical control, while he saw the clergy humble from 
then poverty, and inoffensive by their estrangement from 
political affairs. But James, charmed with the adulation 

* Wentworth to the king, Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., pp. 60 — 64. 

t The king to Wentworth, ibid, p. 78. 

2 A 



354 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

of the English prelates, viewed the subject in a very dif- 
ferent light ; and having zealously adopted the maxim of 
no bishop, no king, he conceived the project of strengthen- 
ing the hands of monarchy in Scotland, by the introduc- 
tion of episcopacy. His attempts, however, met with the 
most serious obstacles : the nobility and principal gentry 
were alarmed at the prospect of losing those ample posses- 
sions, which they had wrested from the Romish church at 
the Reformation ; and the people looked with abhorrence 
on rites which approached to the symbols of Catholic su- 
perstition. The result of a contest between the general 
sense of a nation and a feeble monarch was such as might 
have been foreseen. James, at his death, left his authority 
in Scotland weakened by dissensions which he had wan- 
tonly excited, and the people rendered, by successful oppo- 
sition, more determined in their resistance to religious 
innovation. 

During the first years of the new reign, while Charles 
was wholly occupied with his refractory parliaments, these 
abortive attempts were discontinued, and Scotland re- 
mained in a profound repose, which showed how little 
monarchy had to dread from either her civil or ecclesias- 
tical establishment. It was not until Laud had acquired 
the chief direction of affairs, that Charles was induced to 
renew those attempts which had proved so unprosperous 
in the hands of his father. An imposing hierarchy, a 
splendid ritual, a universal conformity, were objects for 
which that prelate was ready to hazard the peace of a 
kingdom ; while to Charles, the extirpation of Presbyte- 
rianism seemed an indispensable step to the establishment 
of an uncontrouled monarchy. The first measure taken 
to effect these objects, the revocation of the impropriated 
tithes from the nobility and gentry, diffused discontent 
among those most capable of resistance. A visit to Scot- 
land, which the king undertook for the same purpose, 
seemed at first to promise an auspicious issue. The ap- 
pearance of their young king was hailed with universal 



EAHL OFJ STRAFFORD. I 355 

demonstrations of joy; and while the people were rilled 
with the warmest sensations of loyalty, Laud was permit- 
ted to mount the principal pulpit of their capital, and, in 
his odious garments, to declaim in behalf of his still more 
odious rites. But when the king, in prosecution of his 
favourite scheme, ventured to infringe the most sacred 
privileges of parliament, to interrupt the deliberations, to 
threaten the members even in the house, and to exercise 
vengeance on the refractory, the affection of the people 
was suddenly converted into dislike, and Charles had to 
lament, that his departure from Scotland seemed to diffuse 
no less satisfaction than his arrival. 

But this demonstration of the national sentiments was 
insufficient to check the ardour of Laud : he even resolved 
to introduce into Scotland innovations which had been 
resisted in England ; and to array its worship in a ceremo- 
nial still more comformable to the church of Rome.* The 
Scots beheld, with indignation, those institutions for which 
their fathers had bled supplanted by rites connected in 
their minds with an abhorred superstition; they were 
farther disgusted to see these innovations enforced by the 
sole authority of the king, and the solemn statutes of the 
legislature superseded by royal proclamations.f The con- 
demnation to death of Lord Balmerino, for having in his 
possession the draught of a very temperate petition to the 
king for a redress of grievances, seemed to indicate that 
personal security, as well as political freedom, was at an 

* The innovations of Laud were, in themselves, indifferent and even 
puerile : capes, surplices, tippets, the name and position of the altar, the 
ring in marriage, the cross in baptism, were things to attract only the ig- 
norant and superstitious ; but when so gravely undertaken by the head of 
the English church, and so zealously enforced by the sovereign, they as- 
sumed a more serious character in the eyes of the populace. They were 
no longer the playthings of children, but the engines of great ministers 
and princes ; and however indifferent they might appear, men could not 
believe them to be so in reality, when maintained by a monarch at the 
risk of involving his kingdom in rebellion and bloodshed. 

f Burnet's Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton, pp. 29, 30, 31. Cla- 
rendon, vol. i., p. 10G. 

2 a 2 



356 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

end. # The cause of religion now became united with that 
of civil liberty ; and under the avowed direction of the 
principal nobility and gentry, the opposition to the inno- 
vations of the court acquired order and solidity. A 
covenant to maintain their rights was eagerly embraced 
throughout the nation.f The threats, the promises, the 
intrigues which the court employed to dissolve or disunite 
this confederacy, were alike unsuccessful; and when 
Charles appeared at the head of an army to enforce his 
mandates with the sword, he was met on the borders by 
a force, inferior to his own in splendour, but superior in 
the ardour of the soldiers, and the experience of the offi- 
cers. J Laud, whose instigations had precipitated this 
crisis, now advised his sovereign to treat with the rebels ; 
and Charles, who had too good reason to distrust both the 
talents of his generals, and the adherence of his troops,^ 
purchased a respite from his dangers by a hasty pacifica- 
tion ;|| after which, irritated and dejected, he dismissed 
his army.^f 

Alarmed at the dangers which environed his power, and 
distracted by the contradictory counsels of his ministers, 
Charles began to look for support from the judgment and 
vigour of Wentworth. The lord deputy had not beheld, 
in tranquillity, the progress of the Scottish commotions ; 
and though not directly consulted by the king, he had often 
taken occasion, in his despatches, to state his sentiments 
concerning these disorders. ## He had early declared the 
necessity of providing a sufficient force to awe or chastise 
the refractory Scots ; and, until this could be accomplish- 
ed, he had strongly urged his majesty to keep the insur- 
gents in check, by placing strong garrisons in Berwick and 
Carlisle, in Dumbarton and Leith.ff Dreading, above all 

* Rushworth, vol. ii., p. 281. f Ibid, p. 741. 

X Clarendon, vol. i., p. 116. § Ibid, p. 121. May, p. 46. 

|| Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 1022. Clarendon, vol. i., p. 123. 

f Ibid, 124. ** Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 233. 

ft Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., pp. 191, 192, 235, 280, 324. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 357 

things, the commencement of hostilities while the king 
was yet unprovided with money or troops, he entreated him 
to defer active operations for another year: he expressed 
a hope that the Scots, if not driven to extremities, might 
yet return to a sense of duty ; and reminded him, that " it 
was a tender point to draw blood first from subjects, even 
when rebellious."*" Nor had he confined his zeal to mere 
advice : by a resolute activity, he had repressed some 
rising disorders among the Scottish settlers in Ulster, who 
now amounted to sixty thousand men ;f and had not only 
prevented them from assisting their countrymen, but com- 
pelled them to abjure the covenant. J On the first requi- 
sition of the king, he had sent a detachment of troops to 
garrison Carlisle, and to act against the Scots ; he had 
laboured to recruit and discipline the army of Ireland for 
further services ; he had offered contributions from himself 
and his friends to defray the expenses of the war ; he had 
stimulated his connexions in Yorkshire to exert them- 
selves in the royal cause ; and had lamented that, in this 
season of danger, he should not be found at his majesty's 
side.§ 

Charles perceived the evils which he had incurred from 
neglecting the advice of Wentworth ; and he looked around 
him in vain for a minister of equal zeal. He now conde- 
scended to request the lord deputy's personal attendance, 
which he had formerly declined. || He wished, he said, to 
consult him on some military projects : " but," added he, 
in a tone of dejection, " I have much more, and indeed 
too much, to desire your counsel and attendance for some 
time, which I think not fit to express by letter, more than 
this, — the Scottish covenant spreads too far," Hebegged, 
however, that Wentworth would not make known the mo- 
tive of his request, but find some other pretext for visiting 
England. If 

* Wentworth to the king, Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., pp. 314, 350. 
f Ibid, p. 270. X Ibid, pp, 338, 345. 

§ Ibid, pp. 233, 278, 279, 289, 308. || Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., 28L 
f The king to Wentworth, ibid, p. 372. 



358 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

The lord deputy lost no time in obeying this summons. 
Committing the government of Ireland in his absence to 
his friend Wandesford, he hastened to the English court, 
under pretence of opposing the appeal of the Lord Chan- 
cellor Loftus. The high opinion entertained of his abilities 
made his arrival in London the general theme of conversa- 
tion and conjecture. Some, remembering his early ardour 
in the cause of the people, fondly imagined that he had 
hitherto been subservient to the court, only to ingratiate 
himself thoroughly with the king ; and that he would now 
employ his ascendancy to wean his majesty from arbitrary 
counsels. But others, considering his ambition, and the 
maxims of his government in Ireland, gave a very different 
explanation of the motives of his arrival.* 

The immediate object of discussion submitted to Went- 
worth and his principal colleagues, Laud and Hamilton/f- 
was the nature of the measures to be pursued towards the 
Scots. J So vague and indistinct had been the provisions 
of the late pacification, that the contracting parties could 
not agree either with respect to its terms or its spirit ; and 
the representation given by the one was flatly denied by the 
other.^ The Scots seemed resolved to maintain their in- 
terpretation of the treaty at the head of an armed force ; 
and, as it was now discovered that they had meditated an 
application to the French court for succours,|| Wentworth 
declared that there was no other alternative for the king, 

* May, pp. 53, 54. 

f These three ministers, and occasionally some others, were, by the 
opponents of the court, reproachfully termed the junto and the cabinet 
council. Such was the origin of a term now attended with peculiar dis- 
tinction.— Clarendon, vol. i., p. 149. 

X It was only a few months before this period, that Charles had, for the 
first time, consulted his English ministers concerning the affairs of Scot- 
land. Both he and his father had adhered to their rule of advising with 
Scotsmen alone concerning the affairs of Scotland : and to this policy, 
whatever might be its motive, Wentworth ascribes the commotions which 
now agitated that part of the island. — Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 190. 

§ Clarendon, vol. i., p. 123.| 

|| The king's declaration. Clarendon, p. 129. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 359 

than to forego his sovereignty, or reduce his rebellious sub- 
jects by force of arms. 

The proposition for war was readily acceded to; but 
how to procure supplies was a more difficult question. 
So much had the dissipation of the court exhausted both 
the ordinary and extraordinary revenues,* that the king 
had been enabled to march against the Scots only by the 
uncertain aid of voluntary contributions, and by com- 
manding all the crown vassals to join his standard under 
pain of forfeiting their tenures. f The arbitrary expedients 
of selling monopolies, and levying partial exactions, had 
already been carried to the utmost ; and ship-money began 
to be paid with more reluctance, as the necessities of the 
crown increased. j In the present state of affairs, it seemed 
dangerous to provoke the nation by more unauthorized 
imposts ; and, as every other resource seemed hopeless, 
Wentworth, Laud, and Hamilton united in proposing that 
a parliament should be summoned. § An expedient, long 
evaded by every art, and adopted only from extreme neces- 
sity, could not be regarded with much confidence ; and the 
council, therefore, thought proper to point to an alterna- 
tive by a vote " to assist the king in extraordinary ways, 
if the parliament should prove peevish, and refuse sup- 
plies." | Wentworth displayed his superior zeal by sub- 
scribing twenty thousand pounds, as his share of a volun- 
tary contribution ;^[ and to set an example of loyalty to the 
English, he requested that a parliament, for the same 
objects, should previously be held in Ireland. 

It was no longer a season for Charles to be penurious of 
his honours, or afraid to share in the unpopularity of 
Wentworth. It was not the reward of a meritorious ser- 
vant that was now in question, but the interest of the sove- 
reign himself. Wentworth was created Earl of Strafford, 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 267. 

t Clarendon, vol. i., p. 116. 

X Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 978. Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 308. 

§ Laud's Diary. || Ibid. 

f Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 1051. Nalson, vol. L, p. 280. 



360 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

adorned with the Garter, and invested with the title of 
lord-lieutenant, which, since the time of Essex, had been 
withheld from the governors of Ireland.* These honours, 
so often requested and so tardily bestowed, had yet their 
charms in the eyes of the receiver ; and both in a studied 
address to the king,f and in some private letters to his 
wife, J he betrayed his exultation on this accession to his 
splendour. 

As the appointed day for the meeting of the Irish parlia- 
ment approached, the lord-lieutenant quitted London to 
regulate its proceedings ; and when overtaken at Beaumaris 
by a severe fit of the gout, he hastened on board, though 
the winds continued contrary, lest the increasing distem- 
per should become too painful to permit his removal. § 

The zeal of the Irish parliament exceeded his most 
sanguine expectations. Their governor now appeared to 
enjoy, not only the royal approbation, but the direction of 
his majesty's councils; and through his hands all favours 
were to be expected. The war against the Scots offered 
also a particular occasion for making interest at the Eng- 
lish court ; and every one strove to distinguish himself by 
a zealous attachment to the lord-lieutenant, and an un- 
bounded devotion to the king. Having unanimously voted 
four subsidies, the sum required by the court, the parlia- 
ment declared that this was a very insignificant expression 
of their zeal ; that his majesty should have the " fee-simple 
of their estates for his great occasions. "|| They proceeded 
to draw up a formal declaration, in which they " humbly 
offered their persons and estates, even to their utmost 
ability," for his majesty's future supply, till the reduction 
of the present disorders.^ In the preamble to the bill of 
subsidies, they declared that their present warm loyalty 
arose from a deep sense of the inestimable benefits con- 

* Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 1050. Nalson, vol. i., p. 280. 

-f- Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 390. 

t Eiographia Britannica, from the MSS. in Musseo Thoresbiano. 

§ Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 394. 

|| Ibid, pp. 39G, 397. Nalson, vol. i., pp. 281, 282. f Ibid, p. 283. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 361 

ferred on their country by the lord-lieutenant; they re- 
counted his meritorious services to the king, and assured 
his majesty that all these had been effected " without the 
least hurt or grievance to any well-disposed subject."* 

To Strafford, so often reviled, so eager to bind the king 
by obligations, these proceedings were necessarily gratify- 
ing ;f and, with a pardonable triumph, he requested the 
English court to make public the loyal declaration of the 
Irish parliament, as an example to the rest of the empire. J 
Having, with incredible diligence, levied a body of eight 
thousand men, as a reinforcement to the royal army, he 
quitted Ireland, after a stay of a fortnight, to attend the 
opening of the English parliament.^ 

But that activity, which had so much contributed to the 
success of his schemes, was now suspended by unseason- 
able infirmities. From excessive fatigue, a violent flux was 
added to his gout, which had now seized him in both feet ; 
and to such a degree were these distempers aggravated by 
a storm which he encountered on his passage, that, on his 
arrival at Chester, he could with difficulty endure to be 
carried ashore. || Here he lay for some days extended on a 
bed, unable to bear the slightest motion, and equally tor- 
mented by pain and anxiety. In this paroxysm of his 
distempers, there occurred a circumstance strongly charac- 
teristic of his unconquerable energy. The king having 
demanded from the county of York two hundred men 
for the garrison of Berwick, the lieutenants, who inclined 
to the popular party, ventured to refuse the requisition. 
Strafford, hearing of this refusal, and learning that the 
privy council had in contemplation to demand satisfaction 
for this contumacy, wrote to Secretary Windebanke, ex- 
pressing his astonishment " that the council should think 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., pp. 396, 397. Rushvvorth, vol. iii. p. 
1051. Nalson, vol. i., pp. 280—284. 
•f Stratford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 403. 

+ Ibid, p. 399. § Ibid, pp. 399, 403. Nalson, vol. i., p. 280. 

|| Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 403. 



362 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

of any other satisfaction, than sending for them up, and 
laying them by the heels." # 

As soon as he could endure the motion, he caused him- 
self to be placed in a litter, and conveyed by slow jour- 
neys to London. Here he found the parliament already 
met, and conducting their discussions with unexpected 
temper and moderation.f They were aware that extreme 
necessity alone had induced the king to assemble them ; 
they had many grievances to redress ; and could complain 
that the Petition of Right had been violated in almost 
every instance. But elected from among the most wealthy 
and enlightened men in the nation, and unwilling to see 
their country ravaged by a civil war, the commons were 
disposed to relieve the necessities of the crown; and 
seemed inclined to wean the king from his arbitrary coun- 
sels, by showing how much more amply and easily he 
could obtain supplies by the legal course of parliaments. 
They spoke, indeed, of grievances, but in terms so mode- 
rate and respectful as to avoid all offence ; and when a 
member, less guarded than the rest, ventured to call ship- 
money an abomination, he narrowly escaped a severe 
reprehension. J 

But these favourable presages were quickly blasted by 
the impatience of the court. The king, in his opening 
speech, delivered by the mouth of the lord keeper, had 
told them that he desired, not their advice, but their sup- 
plies ; and that he expected these to be dispatched before 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 409. 

f Clarendon, vol. i., p. 131, informs us, that the court persisted in the 
same unpopular course, even after issuing the writs for the meeting of par- 
liament. c - That it might not appear that the court was at all apprehen- 
sive of what the parliament would or could do ; and that it was convened 
by his majesty's grace and inclination, not by any motive of necessity, it 
proceeded in all respects in the same unpopular way it had done. Ship- 
money was levied with the same severity ; and the same rigour used in 
ecclesiastical courts, without the least compliance with the humour of 
any man." 

X Clarendon, vol. i., p. 134. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 363 

their grievances were brought in question.* While the 
commons, a few days afterwards, were engaged in debating 
whether they should comply with this requisition of the 
king, or, according to the established form, first represent 
their grievances and afterwards consider of supplies, 
Charles, unexpectedly, hastened to the house of lords, 
desired them to enter on the question of supply, and, both 
by their example and admonition, to bring the commons 
to the same course. -f This precipitate interference, and 
the ready obedience of the lords, threw the commons into 
violent agitation. Since their first admission into parlia- 
ment, it had been their acknowledged right to commence 
all discussions relative to pecuniary supplies ; and the 
present infraction of this fundamental privilege seemed an 
attempt to awe them by the authority of the peers. Seve- 
ral days elapsed in the debates and conferences to which 
this incident gave rise ; and the king, by his unadvised 
precipitation, only delayed the discussions which he de- 
sired to accelerate, and irritated the commons when it was 
most his interest to conciliate them. J 

Charles now attempted another expedient to procure 
immediate supplies. He informed the commons, that, 
although the legality of ship-money had been ascertained 
by the decision of the judges of England ; yet, as it was 
not willingly submitted to by the people, he would, for a 
grant of twelve subsidies, consent to renounce his preten- 
sions to it for ever.§ To some members, it seemed unwise 
to acknowledge the justice of this arbitrary exaction, by 
purchasing an exemption from it; but the majority were 
willing to waive the question of right, and only desired a 
mitigation of the price demanded by the king, which, even 

* Clarendon, vol. i., p. 132. 

t Nalson, vol. i., pp. 330, 331. Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 1144. Claren- 
don, vol. i., p. 134. 

J Clarendon, vol. i., pp. 134, 135. Rushworth, vol. iii., pp. 1146 — 1153. 
Nalson, vol. i., pp. 335—340. 

§ Clarendon, vol. i., p. 135. Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 1154. Nalson, 
vol. i., p. 341. 



364 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

to the most moderate, appeared exorbitant. They were, 
however, informed by Sir Henry Vane, now treasurer of 
the household and secretary of state, that, unless they 
voted the supply in the very proportion and manner speci- 
fied in the royal message, it would not be accepted by his 
majesty. # This declaration, which was enforced by Her- 
bert, the solicitor-general, appeared peremptory even to 
the king's best friends; and after a long discussion, the 
question was adjourned till the following day. But Vane, 
having been commissioned to report the proceedings to 
his majesty, represented the warmth and resistance of the 
house in such glowing colours, as filled the king with the 
most fearful presages, f Dreading some violent measure 
against his arbitrary exactions, he next morning repaired 
to the house of lords, and summoning the commons into 
his presence, confounded the parliament by an immediate 
dissolution. J 

Consternation and discontent were spread throughout 
the kingdom by this unexpected violence to a parliament, 
whose assembling the people had fondly regarded as the 
renovation of their constitutional rights. Charles himself 
immediately repented of his rashness, accused Vane of 
having deceived him, denied that ever he had authorized 
the peremptory demands delivered to the house, and ex- 
pressed a wish to recall the dissolution.^ But finding it 
too late to repair his error, he published a high-toned de- 
claration defending his conduct; and, according to his 
usual practice, imprisoned some of the most conspicuous 
members. || He now employed every expedient to raise 
supplies by the royal authority. He issued orders to 
impress recruits for the army ; commanded the counties 
to pay specified sums for clothing and marching the troops ; 
imposed a loan of three hundred thousand pounds on the 
city of London, and imprisoned the refractory citizens; 

* Clarendon, voL i., p. 138. t Ibid, p. 139. 

X Ibid. Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 1155. Nalson, vol. i., p. 342. 

§ Clarendon, vol. i., pp. 139, 149. 

|| llushworth, vol. iii., pp. 1 160—1 167- Nalson, vol. i., pp. 344—351. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 365 

ordered the pepper under the Exchange to be bought up 
on his account, and sold at an undervalue; seized the 
bullion in the mint ; and was at one time advised to coin 
three hundred thousand pounds of base money for the 
payment of the troops.* 

By means of these expedients, and a considerable loan 
from his principal courtiers,f Charles was enabled to 
march against the Scots, who, on their part, were pre- 
paring to carry the war into England. The Earl of Nor- 
thumberland had been appointed commander-in-chief: but, 
on account of his illness, the command devolved on 
Strafford, the lieutenant-general, whose distempers hardly 
permitted him to sit on horseback.J Looking on the Scots 
as a horde of undisciplined rebels, he had beheld the late 
treaty with indignation ; and declared his opinion, that a 
moderate English army could drive them, with disgrace, 
to their homes. But before he could reach his troops, he 
was met by the mortifying intelligence that a part of them 
had been attacked by the Scots at Newburn on Tyne; 
and, although aided by the advantages of ground, had, 
almost without coming to blows, betaken themselves to 
an ignominious flight. On this the main body, abandoning 
Newcastle, where their ammunition and provisions were 
deposited, halted not till they reached the neighbourhood 
of Durham, where they were met by their incensed lieute- 
nant-general.^ Irritable from the painful distempers which 
hung on his constitution, and exasperated beyond all 
bounds by the misconduct of his army, Strafford undertook 
the command with looks of indignation, and the language 
of reproach. Stung by his indiscriminate censures, and 
inflamed by the arts of his secret adversaries, the troops 
soon displayed more hatred against their general than 

* Rushworth, vol. iii., pp. 1170—1217. May, pp. 62, 63. Nalson, 
vol. i., pp. 486 — 491. This last project was abandoned ; and, on the 
earnest representations of the merchants, only a third of the bullion in 
the mint was retained as a loan. 

t Clarendon, vol. L, p. 140. J Ibid, pp. 141, 144. 

§ Nalson, vol. i., p. 426. 



366 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

against the enemy; and the first military exploit of 
Strafford was to abandon the northern counties to the 
mercy of the foe, and retreat to York with a disgraced 
and mutinous army. # 

The tide of Strafford's fortune was now rapidly ebbing. 
His avowed sentiments of the Scots had rendered them 
his implacable enemies ; his support of ship-money, and 
other arbitrary measures, had procured him almost equal 
hatred among the people of England ; and his influence 
and conduct rendered a powerful party of the courtiers 
eager to promote his ruin. The Marquis of Hamilton, 
who now enjoyed the principal confidence of the king, 
had long beheld him with aversion ; f and he was equally 
hated by Lord Holland and Sir Harry Vane, the confiden- 
tial advisers of the queen. He had offended Holland by 
some contemptuous expressions ; £ he had provoked Vane 
by obstructing his promotion ; and, when created Earl of 
Strafford, he wantonly exasperated this adversary, by pro- 
curing himself to be also created Baron of Raby, a manor 
belonging to Vane, and regarded by him as his own future 
title.% The Earls of Essex and Arundel had been dis- 
placed by his influence from the commands which they 
held in the former expedition against Scotland, and were, 
on other accounts, his declared foes : Arundel from some 
private quarrels, and Essex from friendship to the Earl of 
Clanricarde.|| But his most dangerous enemy at court 
was the queen, whose influence over her husband was 
daily increasing. Her inveterate antipathy to the Duke 
of Buckingham had been transferred to his creature, Laud ; 
and, by a natural association, to the principal friend and 
supporter of Laud. Strafford had made some attempts to 
conciliate her favour ; ^f but he had offended her by dis- 
suading an active co-operation with France, and still more 

* Clarendon, vol. L, pp. 144, 145. f Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 265. 

X Clarendon, vol. i., p. 150. 

§ Ibid. Nalson, vol. i., p. 411 ; introduction, p. 73. Vol. ii., p. 2. 

IS Clarendon, vol. i., pp. 150, 151. f Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 256. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 3G7 

by his opposition to the promotion of Vane, whom she 
supported with all her influence. # 

The superior ascendancy of this hostile interest was soon 
felt by Strafford, who now saw the most important and 
hazardous measures undertaken without his concurrence, 
or even his knowledge. As the lords had proved, in the 
last parliament, more submissive than the commons, the 
king was advised to revive an old feudal institution, and 
summon a grand council of peers, for the relief of his 
necessities. f Apprehensive, however, that the peers would 
urge him to call a parliament, he resolved at least to have 
the merit of a voluntary sacrifice ; and, in his opening 
speech to the grand council, announced that he had already 
determined to adopt this measure. J If Strafford was con- 
founded at these precipitate transactions, he experienced a 
deeper mortification from the discovery that his inveterate 
enemy, Lord Savile, was employed in carrying on private 
overtures between the court and the Scots. § While 
eagerly engaged in strengthening and animating his army 
for a new encounter, he found a treaty actually commenced 
with the rebellious subjects ; and the negotiations en- 
trusted to sixteen peers, among whom he could discover 
his most active enemies, but not one friend. || And while 
the Scots were lavish in their professions of attachment to 
the king and the English nation, they refused to hold their 
conferences at York, because it was within the jurisdic- 
tion of their mortal enemy, the lord-lieutenant of Ireland. If 

* Nalson, ubi supra. Clarendon, vol. i., pp. 125, 126. 

f Clarendon, vol. i., p. 147. J Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 1275. 

§ Clarendon, vol. i., p. 155. 

|| Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 1276. Clarendon, vol. i., p. 155. 

% The words of the Scots on this occasion are expressive of great anti- 
pathy : " We cannot conceal what danger may be apprehended in our 
going to York, and surrendering ourselves into the hands of an army com- 
manded by the lieutenant of Ireland, against whom, as a chief incendiary, 
(according to our demands, which are the subject of the treaty itself,) we 
intend to insist, as is expressed in our remonstrance and declaration ; who 
hath, in the parliament of Ireland, proceeded against us as traitors and 
rebels, (the best titles his lordship, in his common talk, honours us with,) 



368 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

Strafford now found himself placed, by the effects of 
undue zeal, amidst a host of enemies ; and received no 
doubtful intimations that he had mistaken the state of the 
national spirit. He had, indeed, long known that the 
popular feelings were exasperated by arbitrary exactions, # 
by the infamy of the judges in perverting the laws to gra- 
tify the court, f by the cruel punishments employed to 
repress freedom of speech and writing,! by the usurped 

whose commission is to subdue and destroy us, and who, by all means, 
and on all occasions, desireth the breaking up of the treaty of peace." — 
Rushworth, vol. iii., p. 1293. Nalson, vol. i., p. 453. 

* Clarendon, vol. i., pp. 67, 68. f Ibid, p. 70. 

X Never did the press groan under such grievous oppression. Neither 
the rank of an offender, nor the dubious nature of an offence, could guard 
men from the most harsh and disgraceful punishments. Mr. Prynn, a 
barrister, who had written a book against masquerades and plays, was, in 
the court of the Star-chamber, found guilty of a libel against the govern- 
ment, because the king and queen happened to be passionately fond of 
these diversions. For this alleged crime he was sentenced to a fine of five 
thousand pounds, to be imprisoned for life, to stand in the pillory in 
Westminster and Cheapside, and to lose both his ears, one in each of these 
places. Having, in his prison, written some exposition of the injustice of 
the proceedings against him, he was, for this new offence, sentenced by 
the same court to pay another fine of five thousand pounds, to stand 
again in the pillory, and to lose the remainder of his ears ! The hang- 
man, from the closeness of the stumps to the head, was obliged rather to 
saw than cut them off. Bastwick a physician, and Burton a divine, were 
sentenced to the same punishments for similar offences. — See their trials 
and sentences in Rushworth, vol. ii., pp. 220 — 241, 382. Dr. Leigh ton, 
a divine of learning and virtue, for writing a book against prelacy with 
too much warmth, was sentenced to pay ten thousand pounds to the king, 
to be imprisoned during his majesty's pleasure, and to suffer a variety of 
infamous and cruel punishments, which, as Archbishop Laud himself has 
recorded in his Diary, were inflicted in the following manner : " He was 
severely whipt before he was set in the pillory : being set in the pillory, 
he had one of his ears cut off; one side of his nose slit ; branded on one 
cheek with a red-hot iron with the letters S. S., signifying a stirrer up of 
sedition, and afterwards carried back again to the Fleet prison, to be kept 
in close custody ; and on that day sevennight, his sores upon his back, 
ear, nose, and face being not cured, he was whipt again at the pillory in 
Cheapside, and there had the remainder of his sentence executed upon 
him, by cutting off the other ear, slitting the other side of the nose, and 
branding the other cheek." After enduring these cruelties, he was 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 369 

power of the Star-chamber, and other arbitrary courts,* 
and by the consequent annihilation of security for persons 
and property: he knew farther, that the consciences of 
many w T ere shocked by the innovations of Laud, and that 
the ambition of the nobility was deeply wounded by the 
attempt to transfer public offices into the hands of the 
clergy .j Still he had attributed the ebullitions of popular 

thrown into a damp unwholesome dungeon, from which he was, eleven 
years after, rescued by the Long Parliament, having lost his eye-sight 
his hearing, and nearly the whole use of his limbs. 

* Nothing can more expose the excess of this abuse than the confession 
of the loyalist historian, Clarendon : " For the better support of these 
extraordinary ways, and to protect the agents and instruments who must 
be employed in them, and to discountenance and suppress all bold inquirers 
and opposers, the council-table and Star-chamber enlarge their jurisdic- 
tion to a vast extent. ' Holding,' as Thucydides said of the Athenians, 
' for honourable that which pleased, and for just that which profited,' 
and being the same persons in several rooms, grew both courts of law to 
determine right, and courts of revenue to bring money into the treasury ; 
the council- table, by proclamations, enjoining to the people what was not 
enjoined by the law, and prohibiting that which was not prohibited ; and 
the Star-chamber censuring the breach and disobedience to those procla- 
mations, by very great fines and imprisonment. So that any disrespect 
to any acts of state, or to the persons of statesmen, was in no time more 
penal; and those foundations of right, by which men valued their secu- 
rity, to the apprehension of wise men, never more in danger to be 
destroyed."— Hist, of Reb. vol. i., pp. 68, 69. 

-f- Laud, by his efforts to exalt the clergy, had greatly disgusted the 
nobility. He had induced the king to bestow the office of lord high 
treasurer on Juxon, a very worthy man, but entirely unknown, who had 
been, within two years, raised from obscurity ; and, by the interest of 
Laud, first appointed clerk of the king's closet, and afterwards bishop of 
London. There were few things which excited more violent enmity to 
the church, than conferring the office of treasurer on Juxon ; but to 
Laud, it was a source of unspeaLcble satisfaction, as he records in his 
Diary : " March 6th, Sunday, William Juxon, lord bishop of London, 
made lord high treasurer of England : no churchman had it since Henry 
the Seventh's time. I pray God bless him to carry it so, that the 
church may have honour, and the king and the state service and content- 
ment by it. And now, if the church will not hold up themselves, under 
God, I can do no more." In Scotland, at the introduction of episcopacy, 
this invidious eagerness for the promotion of churchmen was carried still 
further : they held nearly all the more important offices of state, along 
with seats in the privy council. 

2 B 



370 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

discontent* to the want of that vigour, before which he had, 
in Ireland, found all obstacles yield. He had returned the 
exhortations of Laud, to persist in thorough measures :f he 
had treated the popular leaders with contempt ;J and had 

* These discontents broke out, in the most alarming manner, while the 
court was attempting to levy an army against the Scots. The impressed 
men employed the most shocking means to avoid the service ; one cut off 
his toe, and another even hanged himself. — Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 
351. In several counties, the soldiers mutinied and murdered their offi- 
cers. — Rushworth, vol. iii., pp. 1191 — 1195. Clarendon's State Papers, 
vol. ii., p. 101. 

f He tells Laud, (Letters, vol. ii., p. 250,) that, in his opinion, the 
Scottish affairs were lost by too great a desire to do things quietly ; that 
opposition is, at first, easily quashed by vigour ; but, adds he, " so long 
as I do serve, I will thorough, by the grace of God, follow after what shall 
please him to send." He seems also to have formed a wrong idea of the 
king's firmness, unless, perhaps, he thought it necessary to express his 
sentiments cautiously to a fellow-courtier : " Our master is an excellent 
horseman, and knows perfectly how to bring to obedience a hard mouth 
with a sharp bit, where a sweeter will not do it." — Wentworth to New- 
castle, Letters, vol. ii., p. 25G. In another letter to Laud, he speaks of 
the spirit of the age as " a grievous and overspreading leprosy. Less," he 
adds, " than thorough will not overcome it. There is a cancerous malig- 
nity in it, which must be cut forth, which long since hath rejected all 
other means." — Letters, vol. ii., p. 13G. 

% " I am confident," he writes to Laud, " that the king, being pleased 
to set himself in the business, is able, by his wisdom and ministers, to 
carry any just and honourable action through all imaginary opposition, 
for real there can be none : that, to start aside for such panic fears, fan- 
tastic apparitions as a Prynn or an Elliot shall set up, were the meanest 
folly in the world ; that the debts of the crown taken off, you may govern 
as you please ; and most resolute I am that work may be done, without 
borrowing any help forth of the king's lodgings ; and it is as downright a 
peccatum ex te Israel as ever was, if all this be not effected with speed and 
ease." — Letters, vol. i., p. 173. Hampden, he thinks, might have been 
easily reformed by some wholesome chastisement : " Mr. Hampden is a 
great brother ; and the very genius of that nation of people leads them al- 
ways to oppose, both civilly and ecclesiastically, all that ever authority 
ordains for them. But, in good faith, were they rightly served, they 
should be whipt home into their right wits ; and much beholden they 
should be to any, that would thoroughly take pains with them in that 
kind." — Wentworth to Laud, Letters, vol. ii., p. 138. Again, " In truth 
I still wish Mr. Hampden, and others to his likeness, were well whipt 
into their right senses : and if that the rod be so used that it smarts not, I 
am the more sorry." — Wentworth to Laud, Letters, p. 158. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 3 71 

forgot that if some of them were, like himself, ready to 
accept the favours of the court, the impoverished court 
possessed not the means to buy off so numerous an oppo- 
sition. 

But circumstances were now such as to render his per- 
sonal vigour of no avail. He no longer acted as the inde- 
pendent director of a separate government ; and he found 
it in vain to advise resolute measures where his master was 
unstable, and where adverse counsels predominated. In 
the presence of such colleagues as Holland and Vane, he 
was obliged to repress his sentiments within his bosom, 
and give an apparent consent where opposition was fruit- 
less.* He determined, however, to give one practical 
proof of the possibility of reinstating the royal authority 
by vigorous exertion. As no cessation of arms had been 
agreed on with the Scots, during the negotiation he sent a 
party of horse, under a skilful officer, to attack them in 
their quarters. The enterprise was successful, the detach- 
ment defeated a large body of the enemy, and took all the 
officers prisoners. But this success, while it raised the 
spirits of the army, still more inflamed the Scots against 
Strafford ; and, when it became known that the officer who 
conducted the party was a Roman Catholic, the English 
joined in the clamour against the foe of religion. The 
feeble king, overcome by their united remonstrances, 
commanded his general to forbear, for the future, from all 
offensive operations.y 

To this galling mandate Strafford bowed in silence. 
Though haughty to inferiors, and daring towards an 
enemy, he gave himself up to the royal will with the most 
humble resignation. Impressed with the magnificence of 
titles and power, he looked with a reverential awe to those 
who possessed them in a superior degree ; and could 
scarcely bring himself to question their orders, or ap- 
proach them with familiarity. J Towards the king he had 

* Clarendon, vol. i., p. 159. -f- Ibid. Father Orleans, p. 34. 

X This trait of his character is remarkably exemplified in his conduct to 

2 b 2 



372 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

never ventured to assume that commanding and violent 
attitude which was employed, with unbounded success, 
by the Duke of Buckingham, and afterwards by the 
queen ; and unfortunately, in the deliberations of Charles, 
zeal and compliance were unable to outweigh persevering 
importunity or peremptory demand. Strafford had now 
to look on, in silent despair, while the humbled king 
formed a preliminary truce with the Scots, and even 
agreed to pay their army till the conclusion of a final 
treaty.* 

But more severe trials soon awaited his fortitude. On 
the 3d of November, 1640, was assembled that parliament 
which was to witness, during its continuance, the most 
violent convulsions to which the constitution and people 
of this island were ever exposed. It was composed, in a 
great measure, of the same persons as the former parlia- 
ment ; but their dispositions had become greatly changed. 
Their resentment had been roused by the abrupt dissolu- 
tion, by the imprisonment of members, by the arbitrary 
methods employed to raise money; and the enterprises 
against the Scots, so unsuccessfully prosecuted, so feebly 
relinquished, had extinguished their respect for the king. 
Concluding, from repeated experience, that necessity 
alone could wrest concessions from their sovereign, they 
resolved, while the exchequer was empty, and a hostile 
army stationed in the kingdom, to proceed with a bold 
and determined hand in reforming abuses, and placing 
effectual barriers to future encroachments. 

In these designs, the only obstacles which they feared 
were the vigour and talents of Strafford. While the popu- 

Laud. When that prelate, with whom he had, for some years, lived on 
the most intimate footing, was raised from the see of London to the 
archbishopric of Canterbury, Wentworth desisted from his usual famili- 
arity, and at length resumed it only in consequence of the good-natured 
raillery of Laud, who assured him that the palace of Lambeth was occu- 
pied by his old friend, the bishop of London. — Laud to Wentworth, 
Strafford's Letters, vol. i., p. 111. 
* Clarendon, vol. i., p. 160. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 373 

lar leaders detested him as a traitor to their cause, and 
the Scots as the implacable enemy of their nation, all 
equally dreaded those abilities which had laid Ireland 
prostrate at his feet, and which might yet inspire vigour 
into the counsels of Charles. So long as he continued at 
the head of an army, there was no security that he might 
not, by some sudden movement, confound and crush their 
projects; and nothing was, therefore, to be achieved till 
after accomplishing his destruction. 

The apprehensions of the king soon brought their 
dreaded adversary into their power. When he compared 
the management of an Irish parliament by Strafford with 
his own abortive attempts in England, Charles, without 
duly weighing the difference of circumstances, was led to 
expect from this minister's assistance an issue no longer 
possible. Strafford hesitated to incur certain dangers in 
so hopeless a struggle. To the royal summons foi his 
attendance in parliament, he replied by an earnest request 
that he might be permitted to retire to his government in 
Ireland, or to some other place where he might promote 
the service of his maj esty, and not deliver himself into the 
hands of his enraged enemies. But to these representa- 
tions Charles refused to listen ; and, with too much confi- 
dence in a firmness which had so often failed him, he en- 
couraged his minister by a solemn promise, that " not a 
hair of his head should be touched by the parliament. " # 

Strafford at length prepared to obey these repeated 
mandates ; and having discovered a traitorous correspon- 
dence, in which his enemy Savile, and some other lords, 
had invited the Scots to invade England, he resolved to 
anticipate and confound his adversaries by an accusation 
of these popular leaders. f But no sooner were the com- 
mons informed that he had taken his seat among the 
peers, than they ordered their doors to be shut ; and, after 
they had continued several hours in deliberation, Pym, 
attended by a number of members, appeared at the bar of 
* Whitlocke's Memorials, p. 37. t Strafford's Trial, p. 2. 



374 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 



the house of lords, and, in the name of the commons of 
England, impeached the Earl of Strafford of high treason. 
This charge was accompanied by a desire that he should 
be sequestered from parliament, and forthwith committed 
to prison ; a request which, after a short deliberation, was 
granted. # 

A few days after his impeachment, a charge of nine 
articles was presented by the commons : but a committee 
of both houses being appointed to prepare the impeach- 
ment, went into investigations of great length, and, after 
three months' labour, extended the charges to twenty-eight 
articles. The grand point to be established against Straf- 
ford was, an attempt to subvert the fundamental laws of the 
country : and the course in law was, to show that such an 
attempt, as it would prove destructive to the state, was a 
traitorous design against its sovereign. The proofs of the 
accusation were deduced from a series of his actions 
infringing the laws, from words intimating arbitrary de- 
signs, and from certain counsels which directly tended to 
the ruin of the constitution-^ 

As president of the council of York, Strafford was 
charged with having procured powers subversive of all 
law, with having committed insufferable acts of oppression 
under colour of his instructions ; and with having distinctly 
announced tyrannical intentions, by declaring that the 
people should find " the king's little finger heavier than 
the loins of the law." 

As governor of Ireland, he was accused of having pub- 
licly asserted, " that the Irish were a conquered nation, 
and that the king might do with them as he pleased." 
He was charged with acts of oppression towards the Earl 
of Cork, Lord Mountnorris, the Lord Chancellor Loftus, 
Lord Dillon, the Earl of Kildare, and other persons. He 
had, it was alleged, issued a general warrant for the 
seizure of all persons who refused to submit to any legal 

* Strafford's Trial, p. 4. May, p. 88. 

f Strafford's Trial. Nalson, vol. ii. Whitlocke. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 3?5 

decree against them, and for their detention till they either 
submitted, or gave bail to appear before the council-table ; 
he had sent soldiers to free quarters on those who would 
not obey his arbitrary decrees ; he had prevented the 
redress of his injustice, by procuring instructions to pro- 
hibit all persons of distinction from quitting Ireland with- 
out his express licence ; he had appropriated to himself a 
large share of the customs, the monopoly of tobacco, and 
the sale of licences for the exportation of certain com- 
modities; he had committed grievous acts of oppression 
in guarding his monopoly of tobacco ; he had, for his own 
interest, caused the rates on merchandise to be raised, and 
the merchants to be harassed with new and unlawful 
oaths ; he had obstructed the industry of the country, by 
introducing new and unknown processes into the manufac- 
ture of flax ; he had encouraged his army, the instrument 
of his oppression, by assuring them that his majesty 
would regard them as a pattern for all his three king- 
doms ; he had enforced an illegal oath on the Scottish 
subj ects in Ireland ; he had given undue encouragement 
to Papists, and had actually composed the whole of his 
new-levied troops of adherents to that religion. 

As chief minister of England, it was laid to his charge 
that he had instigated the king to make war on the Scots, 
and had himself, as governor of Ireland, commenced hos- 
tilities : that, on the question of supplies, he had declared, 
" that his maj esty should first try the parliament here, 
and if that did not supply him according to his occasions, 
he might then use his prerogative to levy what he needed ; 
and that he should be acquitted, both of God and man, if 
he took some other courses to supply himself, though it 
were against the will of his subjects :" that, after the 
dissolution of that parliament, he had said to his majesty, 
" that having tried the affections of his people, he was 
loose and absolved from all rules of government, and was 
to do every thing that power would admit ; that his ma- 
jesty had tried all ways, and was refused, and should be 



376 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

acquitted both to God and man ; that he had an army in 
Ireland, which he might employ to reduce this kingdom 
to obedience." He was farther charged with having coun- 
selled the royal declaration which reflected so bitterly on 
the last parliament ; with the seizure of the bullion in the 
Tower ; the proposal of coining base money ; a new levy 
of ship-money ; and the loan of a hundred thousand pounds 
from the city of London. He was accused of having told 
the refractory citizens that no good would be done till they 
were laid up by the heels, and some of their aldermen 
hanged for an example. It was laid to his charge that he 
had levied arbitrary exactions on the people of Yorkshire 
to maintain his troops ; and, finally, that his counsels had 
given rise to the rout at Newburn. # 

Such were the charges on which Strafford was brought 
to trial : few transactions in the annals of our country 
have more strongly interested the nation. The writers of 
that age have spoken with wonder of the magnificent 
preparations for the solemn spectacle, the first which, on 
such an occasion, were made in Westminster Hall. The 
members of one house of parliament sat as judges, those 
of the other appeared as accusers; the most distinguished 
personages of the three kingdoms were assembled as spec- 
tators ; and the novelty of the scene was farther increased 
by the attendance of the king and queen, who were pro- 
vided with closets, from which they could, unseen, observe 
the whole course of the proceedings. -f- 

Of all the vast assemblage, no one was indifferent : all 
discovered, in their looks and gestures, the solicitude of 
friends, or the bitterness of enemies. The king, aware 
that the charges against Strafford rested on his zealous 
endeavours to enforce the plan of government so dear to 
his majesty's heart, looked on the fate of this minister as 
intimately interwoven with his own authority. The cour- 
tiers, however ill-affected to Strafford, were deeply inter- 

* Strafford's Trial, pp. 61—75. Nalson, vol. ii., pp. 11—20. 

t May, p. 91. Strafford's Trial. Whitlocke, p. 41. Nalson, vol. ii. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 377 

ested in the issue, by an alarming community of interests. 
The ladies of the court were seen ranged around the hall, 
with note-books in their hands, and eagerly recording 
every successive occurrence : entering into the passions 
of their fathers and husbands, they discovered, with the 
frankness of their sex, an unbounded zeal in the cause of 
the prisoner.* 

On the other hand, the three kingdoms appeared, by 
their representatives, to call down destruction on the ob- 
ject of their dread. The English branded him as a traitor 
to the cause of liberty, as the adviser and instrument of 
tyranny ; the Scots, as an incendiary who had instigated 
the king to take arms against them, and who had attempt- 
ed to ravage their country with a civil war. The Irish, 
even those very men who had so lately united in following 
him with their acclamations, now came forward to de- 
nounce him as an oppressor, and to demand vengeance 
for their sufferings. For the rest Strafford was prepared ; 
but this sudden change in the language of the Irish filled 
him with astonishment and affliction. He had mistaken 
the silent awe diffused by his vigour for an affectionate 
acquiescence in his government ; nor did he perceive that 
the late applauses of the Irish parliament proceeded partly 
from apprehension of his power, partly from a belief that 
he had become the distributor of the royal favours. They 
now saw him divested of authority, arraigned as a criminal, 
pursued by general hatred ; and they hoped that, by the 
superadded force of their accusations, they might for ever 
prevent his return among them. 

The trial lasted fifteen days ; in the course of which a 
number of witnesses were produced to substantiate the 
charges, and members of the impeaching committee daily 
commented on the evidence. Yet the passion with which 
they were transported, and their apprehension that Straf- 
ford might escape them, did not permit the commons to 
trust wholly to the justice of their cause, or give the ac- 
* May, p. 92. 



378 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

cused a fair opportunity of conducting his defence. To 
prevent him from availing himself of his principal friend 
Sir George RadclhTe's advice and evidence, they commit- 
ted that officer also to the Tower on a charge of high 
treason, and strictly prohibited any communication be- 
tween them. Adhering rigidly to the old forms of process 
in cases of treason, they would not permit him to examine 
his witnesses upon oath. They even seemed inclined to 
allow him no exculpatory witnesses at all ; for he received 
permission to summon them only three days before the 
commencement of his trial, although some of them had to 
be brought from Ireland. He was not allowed the assis- 
tance of counsel, either in examining the witnesses, or 
commenting on the evidence ; and he was himself obliged 
to reply on the spot, after a very short interval for recol- 
lection. Though he supported his defence with consum- 
mate coolness and vigour, he could not help complaining 
that, when his fortune, his reputation, his life, were at 
stake, he should, by an adherence to cruel usages, be 
denied those aids without which innocence could not assert 
her cause : but he was reminded that, in similar circum- 
stances, a still harder measure had been dealt to the Earl 
of Mountnorris. 

The charges appeared to him by no means formidable. 
From the first perusal, he expressed his satisfaction that 
there was nothing capital in them, and that their con- 
nexion with high treason could be easily disproved.*' In 
his replies he maintained, that the enlarged instructions 
for the council of York had not been procured by his soli- 
citations ; that the specified instances of oppression in the 
northern counties were committed after his departure for 
Ireland ; and that the words imputed to him were directly 
the reverse of those which he had spoken. With regard to 
Ireland, he vindicated his opinion that it was a conquered 
country, and that the king's prerogative was much greater 
there than in England. He contended that all the judg- 
* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 413. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 379 

ments, charged on him as arbitrary, were delivered by 
competent courts, in none of which he had above a single 
voice ; that the prevention of persons from quitting the 
kingdom without licence, as well as placing soldiers at free 
quarters on the disobedient, were transactions consistent 
with ancient usages ; that the flax manufacture owed all its 
prosperity to his exertions, and that his prohibition tended 
to remedy some barbarous and unjust methods of sorting 
the yarn ; that his bargains for the customs and tobacco 
were profitable both to the crown and the country; and that 
the oath which he had enforced on the Scots was required 
by the critical circumstances of the times, and fully ap- 
proved by his government. In regard to his transactions 
in England, it appeared in evidence, that hostility against 
Scotland having been resolved on, he had merely coun- 
selled an offensive in preference to a defensive war ; that 
his expressions relative to supplies were in strict confor- 
mity to the established maxim of the constitution ; # that 
in such emergencies as a foreign invasion, the sovereign 
was entitled to levy contributions, or adopt any other 
measure for the public defence. The words relative to the 
employment of the Irish army were denied by some, and 
affirmed by none of the privy counsellors then present, 
except his adversary Sir Henry Vane, who wavered and 
hesitated in his testimony ; nor did even he venture to 
apply to the kingdom of England words uttered in a com- 
mittee expressly assembled to consider of the reduction of 
Scotland. He observed that his harsh expressions towards 
the citizens of London were heard by only one interested 
individual, and not heard by others who stood as near him: 
he proved that the contributions in Yorkshire were volun_ 
tary ; and that the proposals for seizing the bullion and 
coining base money did not proceed from him. The other 
charges were abandoned by the commons, as either inca- 
pable of proof, or irrelative to the main question, f 

* Salus populi suprema lex. 

t Strafford's Trial, pp. 61 to 75. Nalson, vol. ii., pp. 11 to 20. 



380 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

The replies of Strafford to the several articles of the im- 
peachment seemed greatly to invalidate the allegations of 
his accusers ; and when he proceeded to repel the inference 
of high treason, his arguments and eloquence appeared 
irresistible. He exposed the absurdity of alleging that a 
number of smaller offences, when added together, should 
compose a great crime, to which none of them, separately, 
bore any affinity. He recounted the statutes which dis- 
tinctly specified all treasonable offences, and which ex- 
pressly provided that no other crime should be construed 
into treason. It was in the power of parliament to add 
other offences to this list; but was it just that he should 
be condemned on a law subsequently enacted ? Or if, as 
some pretend, constructive or accumulative treason be 
recognised by our laws, let them produce the evidence of 
this new, this wonderful discovery. 

" Where," said he, " has this fire lain concealed, during 
so many centuries, that no smoke should discover it, till it 
thus bursts forth to consume me and my children ? Hard 
it is that a punishment should precede the promulgation 
of a law, that men should suffer by a law subsequent to 
the deed. If this be admitted, who shall account himself 
secure in his innocence ? And in what is law preferable 
to the will of an arbitrary master ? If I sail on the Thames, 
and split my vessel on an anchor, should there be no buoy 
to give me warning, the owner shall pay me damages ; 
but if it be marked out, then I pass it at my own peril. 
Where is the mark set on this crime ? Where is the token 
by which I should discover it ? If it be hid, if it lie con- 
cealed under water, no human foresight or prudence could 
have prevented my sudden destruction. If we are thus to 
be beset, let us lay aside all human wisdom, let us rely 
solely on divine revelation ; for certainly nothing less than 
revelation can save us from these hidden snares. 

" It is now full two hundred and forty years since trea- 
son was defined ; and so long has it been since any man 
was accused as I am for an alleged crime of this nature. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 381 

We have lived, my lords, happily to ourselves at home ; 
we have lived gloriously abroad to the world : let us be 
content with what our fathers have left us; let not our 
ambition carry us to be more knowing than they were in the 
art of destroying. Great wisdom will it be in your lord- 
ships, for yourselves, for your posterity, for the whole 
kingdom, to cast from you into the fire these bloody and 
mysterious volumes of arbitrary and constructive treasons, 
as the primitive Christians did their books of curious arts ; 
and to betake yourselves to the plain letter of the statute, 
which distinctly points out where the crime is, and how it 
is to be avoided. Let us not, to our own destruction, 
awake those sleeping lions, by shaking up those musty 
records, which have lain for so many ages by the wall, 
forgotten and neglected. 

" To all my afflictions add not this, my lords, the most 
severe of any ; that I, for my other sins, not for my trea- 
sons, should be the means of introducing a precedent so 
fatal in its consequences to the whole kingdom. Do not, 
through me, wound the commonwealth. 

" These gentlemen at the bar, indeed, say, and I believe 
sincerely, that they speak for the commonwealth : but 
under favour, in this particular it is I who speak for the 
commonwealth. From charges like these of which I am 
accused, such miseries will in a few years overtake the 
nation, as are spoken of in the preamble of the statute 
enacted to prevent them : no man will know what to say, 
or to do, from the dread of committing treason. 

" Impose not, my lords, such difficulties on ministers 
of state, as to deter them from cheerfully serving their 
king and country. If you examine them, under such severe 
penalties, by every grain, by every little weight, the scru- 
tiny will be intolerable. The public affairs of the kingdom 
must be left waste, and be for ever abandoned by every 
man who has honour, or fortune, or reputation to lose. 

" My lords, I have troubled you much longer than I 
should have done. Were it not for the interest of those 



382 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

dear pledges which a saint in heaven has left me, I should 
be loath" — here his weeping stopped him : " what I forfeit 
for myself is nothing ; but I confess, that what I forfeit for 
them wounds me to the very soul. Pardon my infirmity : 
something I should have added ; but I see I shall not be 
able, and therefore let it pass. 

" And now, my lords, I thank God by his blessing I 
have been taught, that the afflictions of this present life 
are not to be compared with the eternal happiness which 
awaits us hereafter. And so, my lords, even so, with all hu- 
mility, and with all tranquillity of mind, I submit myself 
freely to your judgments ; and whether that righteous doom 
be life or death, I shall, with gratitude and confidence, re- 
pose myself on the goodness of my Almighty Preserver."* 

" Certainly," says the chairman of the impeaching com- 
mittee, "never any man acted such a part, on such a theatre, 
with more wisdom, constancy, and eloquence, with greater 
reason, j udgment, and temper, and with a better grace in 
all his words and actions, than did this great and excellent 
person ;" and he moved the hearts of all his auditors, some 
few excepted, to remorse and pity.-j- But if the hearts of 
his judges were touched by his eloquence, their judgments 
were farther convinced by the arguments of his counsel, 
Mr. Lane, with regard to the point of law. From his 
statements it clearly appeared, that, even after the enact- 
ment of the law of treason, in the reign of Edward III., 
men had still been harassed by charges of treason for 
offences not specified in that act, but brought within it by 
construction ; that express statutes had been passed in the 
reigns of Henry IV. and Henry VIII. to prevent these 
abuses, and to restrict treason entirely to the specified 
offences ; and that more instances than one had occurred 
of persons accused of high treason for offences similar to 
those of Strafford, and yet, in consequence of these acts, 
found guilty only of felony. J 

* Strafford's Trial, pp. 659, 6G0. Whitlocke, p. 44. Nalson, vol. ii., 122. 
t Whitlocke, p. 44. t Rushworth, vol. iii., pp. 671 to 674. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 383 

The more violent leaders of the commons were exaspe- 
rated by this successful resistance. They affected to con- 
sider it degrading to their dignity to reply to Strafford's 
counsel, and they soon showed a determination to effect 
their object, at the expense of justice, by adopting a 
proceeding which overstepped the established forms and 
maxims of law, and against which innocence could form 
no protection. Dreading the decision of the lords, if the 
charges and evidence were to be weighed by the received 
rules, they resolved to proceed by a bill of attainder; and 
to enact, first in their own house, and afterwards in the 
lords, that Strafford was guilty of high treason, and merit- 
ed its punishment. Great was the indignation of the more 
moderate at a proceeding which, breaking down the fences 
of the constitution, erected the house of commons into a 
tribunal of justice; which took away the most powerful 
bulwarks of innocence; and which converted into judges 
the men who had just acted as accusers. In vain was it 
urged by the accusers, that the safety of the country re- 
quired such an arbitrary power to be lodged somewhere : 
the permanent power of condemning men without law was 
evidently more dangerous to a nation than any individual 
crime whatever. An offence so heinous as to approach to 
high treason, might doubtless admit of being punished 
under some other class of crimes : the charges against 
Strafford might legally amount to felony or high misde- 
meanours, and might justify imprisonment, exile, and 
perpetual removal from the councils of his sovereign. 

The commons, having once outstepped the dictates of 
equity in their prosecution, were led into proceedings 
equally absurd and iniquitous. The alleged advice of 
Strafford to employ the Irish army against England, had 
hitherto rested on the solitary evidence of Sir Harry Vane ; 
but the laws of treason required two witnesses. The 
younger Vane, on inspecting some of his father's papers, 
discovered a minute, as it appeared, of the consultation, at 
which the words imputed to Strafford were alleged to have 



384 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

been spoken ; and this minute was recognised by the elder 
Vane as taken down by him at the time, in his quality of 
secretary. In reporting this discovery to the house, Mr. 
Pym maintained, in a solemn argument, that the written 
evidence of Sir Harry Vane at the period of the transac- 
tion, and his oral evidence at present, ought to be consi- 
dered as equivalent to the testimony of two witnesses ; and 
this extravagant position was actually sanctioned by the 
house, and adopted as a ground of their proceedings.* 

Several members, even among the personal enemies of 
Strafford, remonstrated against this complicated injustice; 
and Lord Digby, a distinguished leader, who had signal- 
ized himself by his active prosecution of the impeachment, 
exposed in glowing colours the iniquity of measures revolt- 
ing to his honour and conscience. f But a large majority 
would listen to nothing but the destruction of their dreaded 
adversary ; and with only fifty-nine dissenting voices, the 
bill of attainder was passed. It was accompanied by the 
remarkable clause, that nothing done in the present case 
should hereafter be drawn into a precedent, j After being 
precipitately hurried through the house, it was presented 
to the lords, with an address which expressed all the viru- 
lence of the prosecutors. St. John, who spoke on this 
occasion, asserted that, in this process of attainder, it was 
sufficient if their lordships were convinced in their own 
minds, though no evidence at all had been adduced : and 
as to the appeal of the culprit to the laws, " it is true," 
said he, " we give law to hares and deers, for they are 
beasts of chase ; but as to beasts of prey, as to foxes and 
wolves, it never was accounted either cruelty or foul play 
to knock them on the head, wherever they can be found. "§ 

The lords, more attached to the court, and dreading the 
effects of so violent a precedent, were neither moved by 
these arguments nor inspired with these passions, and 

* Strafford's Trial. Whitlocke, p. 43. Clarendon, vol. i. 

f Strafford's Trial, p. 50. t Ibid, p. 7^7. 

§ Rushworth, vol viii., p. 703. Clarendon, vol. i., p. 232. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 385 

seemed not unwilling to let the bill of attainder rest undis- 
cussed on their table. But the popular leaders were not 
without means to accelerate its progress. As a warning to 
the lords, the names of the fifty-nine commoners, who had 
voted against the bill of attainder, were posted up in con- 
spicuous places, with this superscription : The Straffor- 
dians, the men who, to save a traitor, would betray their 
country.* The commons recommenced their inquiries into 
abuses ; and by an exposition of the illegal instructions 
and proceedings of the council of York, highly aggravated 
the popular clamour against Strafford. The meaner actors 
in the revolutionary drama now began to appear ; alarms 
were diffused that dangerous conspiracies were entered 
into by the Catholics ; that great multitudes of them were 
assembling in Lancashire ; that they held secret meetings 
in caves, and under ground in Surrey; that they had 
framed a plot to blow up the Thames with gunpowder, and 
destroy the city by the inundation ; that great provisions 
of arms were making beyond sea for their enterprises ;f 
and that all these designs originated w T ith the arch-traitor, 
whose forfeited life was still spared for new treasons. 
Such rumours, indeed, were credited only by the vulgar ; 
but the more intelligent were thrown into consternation by 
the discovery of some crude and abortive attempts to faci- 
litate the escape of Strafford, and bring up the army to 
London for the support of the king against the parliament. 
The commons, as if agitated with the most fearful pre- 
sages, hastened to draw up an oath for the defence of the 
constitution, which they solemnly took themselves, and 
enjoined on the rest of the nation. J 

Charles eagerly embraced every expedient to save the 
life of his minister. To abate the violence of the popular 
leaders, he promoted seme of them to the most conspicuous 
stations in the government; but as they ascribed their 
honours to the support of the parliament, they continued 

* May, p. 86. f Clarendon, vol. i., p. 249. 

J Clarendon, vol. i. Strafford's Trial, p. 735. Whitlocke, p. 45. 
2 C 



386 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

more subservient to that body than to him. By the advice 
of Lord Say, one of those new counsellors, he now repaired 
to the house of lords, and attempted to defeat the bill of 
attainder, by assuring them it was vain to expect his assent 
to a measure which his conscience could not approve ; that 
no fear, no consideration whatever should make him ad- 
judge Strafford guilty of treason. He acknowledged, how- 
ever, that the earl had been convicted of such high misde- 
meanours as disqualified him from ever holding any public 
trust, even that of a high constable ; and declared his rea- 
diness to concur in an act to render him utterly incapable 
of bearing any office. # 

On hearing of this intended interference, Strafford had 
earnestly dissuaded it;f and on learning that the step 
had been actually taken, he no longer encouraged a hope 
of preservation. J His presages were fatally true. No 
sooner had the king quitted the house of lords, than the 
commons, in a transport of impatience, declared this last 
act of his majesty an unparalleled breach of privilege : 
that if the king might thus notice the bills passing in par- 
liament, and forejudge their counsels by declaring his own 
opinion, it would be impossible to enact salutary laws, or 
reform the abuses of the government. They called on 
those who had taken the oath in support of the constitu- 
tion to rally round the parliament, and not suffer its privi- 
leges to be thus wantonly violated. § 

The passions of the commons were communicated to 
the multitude without; and next day, vast crowds sur- 
rounded the house of peers, crying aloud for justice. As 
the lords passed along, the names of the traitorous Straf- 
fordians were sounded in their ears ; and those suspected 
of being hostile to the bill were even pressed and jostled 
so rudely as to endanger their persons. || There was no 
longer room for resistance or delay. Out of fourscore 

* Rushworth, vol. viii., p. 734. Clarendon, vol. i., p. 255. 

t Clarendon, ibid. J Radcliffe. 

§ Clarendon, vol. i., p. 256. || Ibid. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 387 

lords who had been present during the whole trial, only 
forty-six now ventured to attend ; and when the bill at 
length came to a vote, it was carried with eleven dissent- 
ing voices.* 

The cries, which had proved so powerful in Westminster 
Hall, now resounded, with redoubled fury, around the 
palace ; and the king began to dread that himself and his 
family might fall victims to the populace. He summoned 
his privy counsellors to devise means for his safety ; and 
they declared no other could be found but his assent to 
the death of Strafford : he represented the violence which 
he should thus impose on his conscience ; and they referred 
him to the bishops, the interpreters of conscientious scru- 
ples. The prelates, trembling under their own appre- 
hensions, earnestly concurred in the advice of the privy 
counsellors. The archbishop of York was at no loss for 
casuistry to justify this measure: he contended, "that a 
king had a public conscience and a private conscience, 
and that the latter ought always to yield to the former : 
that the conscience of a king to preserve his kingdom, 
the conscience of a husband to preserve his wife, the con- 
science of a father to preserve his children, all of which 
were now in danger, ought abundantly to outweigh the 
conscience of a master or a friend to preserve his friend 
or his servant : that therefore the king was bound, even 
for conscience sake, to ratify the bill of attainder. "f Juxon 
alone vindicated the dignity of his order, by telling the 
king he ought not to sanction a measure which his con- 
science could not approve.! 

* Clarendon, vol. i., p. 256. The lords proceeded in passing the bill of 
attainder after the same manner as if the impeachment had been persisted 
in. They voted Strafford guilty on two articles: the fifteenth, "for 
levying money in Ireland by force in a warlike manner ;" and the nine- 
teenth, " for imposing an illegal oath on the subjects of Ireland." — Whit- 
locke, p. 45. These, therefore, were the grounds on which the lords 
condemned Strafford to die. 

t Clarendon, vol. i., p. 257- 

t Nalson, vol. ii., p. 1JJ.3. Father Orleans, p. 39. 

2c2 



388 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

Strafford, informed of the struggle which the king's 
honour and conscience maintained with the apprehensions 
and entreaties which encompassed him, resolved to give a 
new proof of his magnanimity and devotion. He wrote 
to the king, reminding him of his loyalty and his inno- 
cence; and stating the severe contests which he had 
undergone between the ruin of himself and his family, and 
the imminent dangers of his sovereign; between the things 
most desired, most dreaded by men, — between life and 
death. He had, however, at length formed the resolution 
which best became him; and, therefore, besought his 
majesty to give his sanction to the bill of attainder. " In 
this," added he, "my consent shall more acquit you to 
God, than all the world can do besides. To a willing man 
there is no injury. " # 

The magnanimity of this letter made little impression 
on the courtiers who surrounded the king: they urged 
that the free consent of Strafford to his own death absolved 
his majesty from every scruple of conscience.-}- The reso- 
lution of Charles was at length overpowered ; and he gave, 
by commission, his assent to the death of his faithful 
minister.J 

Strafford was aware that his life was in the hands of his 
enemies, that no chance of escape remained ; but he was 
not prepared to expect a dereliction by his sovereign. 
When Secretary Carleton waited on him with the intelli- 
gence, and stated his own consent as the circumstance 
which had chiefly moved the king, the astonished prisoner 
inquired if his majesty had indeed sanctioned the bill? 
And when assured of the fatal truth, he raised his eyes to 
heaven, and, laying his hand on his heart, exclaimed, 
" Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men : 
for in them there is no salvation."^ 

But he soon resumed his wonted fortitude, and began 

* Rushworth, vol. viii., p. 774. Whitlocke, p. 45. 

t Clarendon, vol. L, p. 258. J Strafford's Trial, p. 755. 

§ Whitlocke, p. 46. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 389 

to prepare for his fate : the short interval of three days 
was allowed him, and he employed it in the concerns of 
his friends and his family. He humbly petitioned the 
house of lords to have compassion on his innocent children. 
He wrote his last instructions to his eldest son, exhorting 
him to be obedient and grateful to those entrusted with 
his education ; to be sincere and faithful towards his sove- 
reign, if he should ever be called into public service; and 
as he foresaw that the revenues of the church would be 
despoiled, he charged him to take no part in a sacrilege, 
which would assuredly be followed by the curse of Hea- 
ven^ He shed tears over the untimely fate of Wandesford, 
whom he had entrusted with the care of his government 
and of his family ; and who, on learning the dangers of 
his friend and patron, had fallen a victim to grief and 
despair. In a parting letter to his wife, he endeavoured 
to support her courage ; and expressed a hope that his 
successor, Lord Dillon, would behave with tenderness to 
her and her orphans. On being refused an interview with 
Sir George Radcliffe and Archbishop Laud, his fellow- 
prisoners in the Tower, he conveyed a tender adieu to the 
one, and to the other an earnest request for his prayers 
and his parting blessing.f If his feelings were deeply 
touched by these remembrances, they were still more pain- 
fully wounded by a letter from the man whom, of all 
others, he had most severely injured. The Earl of Mount- 
norris recounted the hardships which he had undergone, 
the ruin of his fortune, the distresses of his family: he 
forgave Strafford for being the author of all these cala- 
mities, but entreated that he would not leave the world 
without in some degree repairing the injustice, by making 
it known that these sufferings had been undeserved. J 

During this interval, the king, dissatisfied with himself, 
looked around for some expedient to save the life of Straf- 
ford. He sent for Hollis, the earl's brother-in-law, who 
acted with the popular leaders, but had taken no share in 

* Strafford's Letters, vol. ii. Rushworth, vol. viii., p. 782. 

f Rushworth, ibid-. \ Clarendon's State Papers, vol. ii., p. 135, 



390 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

the present prosecution, and demanded what could be done 
for the preservation of his kinsman. Hollis advised that 
Strafford should petition his majesty for a short respite to 
settle his affairs ; and that the king should next day go to 
the house of peers, with this petition in his hands, and re- 
quest that their lordships would consent to a change of the 
minister's punishment from death to perpetual imprison- 
ment; and that they would endeavour to procure the consent 
of the commons to this mitigation.* At the king's desire, 
Hollis made out a draught of a speech ; and hastened to 
exert all his influence in procuring the acquiescence of the 
popular leaders. He succeeded with several, and had 
sanguine hopes of being able, with the assistance of the 
court party, to accomplish his purpose. But Strafford had 
unrelenting enemies at court, who found means to repre- 
sent to the queen that he had bargained for his own 
life by a promise to accuse her, and betray her counsels. 
Under this persuasion, which her ancient enmity made her 
easily receive, she prevailed on the king to lay aside his 
intention of repairing to the house of lords ; to convey his 
requests to them in a letter sent by the hands of the 
Prince of Wales ; and even to abandon his whole pro- 
posal, by adding this cold and indifferent postscript, If he 
must die, it were charity to reprieve him till Saturday. 
And hence, when the requests of the letter came to be 
considered by the peers, the court party united with their 
most violent enemies in procuring its rejection. f 

The day of Strafford's execution threw a brighter lustre 
over his name than his most memorable actions. As he 
quitted the Tower, he looked up to the windows of Laud's 
apartments ; and seeing the aged prelate, who had come 
to take a last leave of his friend, entreated his prayers and 
his blessing. The archbishop, lifting up his hands, gave 
a fervent benediction ; and, overcome with the scene, fell 
motionless on the ground. " Farewell ! my lord," cried 
Strafford, " God protect your innocence. "J As he passed 
* Rushworth, vol. viii., p. 757- t Burnet's Hist. vol. L, pp. 41, 42. 

X Rushworth, vol. viii., p., 762. Nalson, vol. ii. 



EARL OF STRAFFORD. 391 

along to Tower-hill, on which the scaffold was erected, 
the populace eagerly thronged to the spectacle, and beheld 
his noble deportment with admiration. His figure was 
tall and stately, his features grave and dignified: the 
mildness which had taken place of the usual severity of 
his forehead expressed repentance enlivened by hope, and 
fortitude tempered by resignation. In the multitude 
around him he saw nothing to damp his courage, or dis- 
turb his composure ; the same men who had so loudly 
demanded his death, now gazed in profound silence on the 
intrepid victim. He looked on them with complacence ; 
and, frequently taking off his hat, bowed to the spectators 
on either hand. # In his address to the people from the 
scaffold, he assured them that he submitted to his sen- 
tence with perfect resignation ; that, freely and from his 
heart, he forgave all the world. " I speak," said he, " in 
the presence of Almighty God, before whom I stand, there 
is not a displeasing thought that ariseth in me to any 
man." He declared that, however his actions might have 
been misinterpreted, his intentions had always been up- 
right : that he was attached to parliaments ; that he was 
devoted to the constitution and to the church of England ; 
that he ever considered the interests of the king and peo- 
ple as inseparably united ; and that, living or dying, the 
prosperity of his country was his fondest wish. But he 
expressed his fears that it augured ill for the people's 
happiness to write the commencement of a reformation in 
letters of blood. Turning to the friends who attended 
him on the scaffold, he took a solemn leave, and charged 
his brother with his blessing and final adieu to his wife 
and children. " And now," said he, " I have nigh done. 
One stroke will make my wife a widow, my dear children 
fatherless, deprive my poor servants of their beloved mas- 
ter, and separate me from my affectionate brother and all 
my friends. But let God be to you, and to them, all in 
all." While he disrobed himself, he declared " that he 
looked on the approach of death without any apprehen- 
* Rushworth, vol. viii., pp. 772, 773. 



392 EARL OF STRAFFORD. 

sion ; and that he now laid his head on the block with 
the same tranquillity as he had ever laid it on his pillow." 
He stretched out his hand as a signal to the executioner ; 
and, at one blow, his head was severed from his body. # 

Thus perished the Earl of Strafford, in the forty-ninth 
year of his age, accompanied by the admiration of all who 
witnessed his end, and by the mingled reproaches and 
lamentations of the rest of his countrymen. The circum- 
stances of his death, however unhappy, at least proved 
fortunate to his memory. Had his offences not been mag- 
nified beyond truth ; had he, under the pressure of a just 
sentence, wasted the remainder of his days in exile, or in 
the languid obscurity of a prison, he would have had little 
claim on the sympathy of the world : or had he escaped 
from the hands of his enemies, and by some daring enter- 
prise given the first signal for cjvil convulsions, he would 
have caused the good and the wise to join in a common 
prayer for his overthrow. But his accusers, by the unjust 
means employed to effect his destruction, turned the eyes 
of mankind from his trespasses to their own ; and at 
length produced applause where they meant to excite de- 
testation. They doomed their victim to a fate which could 
not fail to excite commiseration ; and they placed him on 
a theatre where his fortitude and lofty demeanour assumed 
the character of transcendent virtues. To the tragical 
termination of his own life, Charles reproached himself 
with the weakness which had sacrificed his most able and 
faithful minister.^ Even the parliament, a few weeks 
after his death, mitigated the most severe consequences of 
their sentence to his children ; and, in a succeeding reign, 
the attainder was reversed, the proceedings obliterated 
from the public records, and his son restored to all his 
fortune and honours. 

* Rushworth, vol. viii., pp. 759—761. 

t In a letter to the Earl of Clarendon from Newcastle, Charles ex- 
presses his deep contrition for " that base, unworthy concession concern- 
ing Strafford ; for which," he adds, " I have been mostjv stly punished." 
Clarendon's State Papers, vol. ii., p. 206. 




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393 



EDWARD HYDE, 

EARL OF CLARENDON. 

Of the illustrious men, whose talents were called into 
action by the civil wars, few have transmitted to posterity 
a more respected name than Edward Hyde. He was 
descended from a family which inherited the estate of 
Norbury, in Cheshire, from the times of the Saxon mo- 
narchy. His own birth-place was Dinton, in Wiltshire, 
where his father, though a younger brother, enjoyed a 
competent fortune. His early education was conducted 
at home, under the tuition of an able teacher ; but his prin- 
cipal improvement arose from the care and conversation 
of his father, who had travelled in his youth, and now 
delighted to communicate to his son observations on the 
appearance and manners of different countries.* 

Edward, being a younger son, was destined for the 
church ; and, with this view, was sent to the university 
of Oxford in his fourteenth year. But, on the death of 
his elder brother, which soon after took place, his desti- 
nation was altered ; and he was now designed for the more 
flattering, though less certain, profession of the law. He 
quitted the university with the reputation rather of talents 
than of industry ; and from some dangerous habits, par- 
ticularly that of drinking, in which he had been initiated, 
he afterwards looked on his early removal as not the least 
fortunate incident of his life.-f* 

He commenced his professional studies in the Middle 
Temple, under the direction of his uncle, Sir Nicholas 
* Clarendon's Life, by himself. Edit. 1759, p. G. f Life, p. 7. 



394 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

Hyde, then treasurer of that society, and soon afterwards 
chief justice of the king's bench. The advantages^of this 
connexion were for some time rendered fruitless by illness : 
an attack of small-pox endangered his life, and an aguish 
complaint obliged him, for upwards of a year, to relinquish 
his studies. Nor was his application considerable even 
after his negligence had no longer an apology from the 
want of health. As London was at that time full of young 
officers, who were to be employed in the Duke of Buck- 
ingham's enterprises against France and Spain, Hyde 
found among them a society more agreeable to his taste 
and habits than among his fellow-students ; and another 
year was lost amidst the pleasures of dissipation. When 
these dangerous companions were removed by peace, he 
still felt little inclination to immure himself amidst the 
records of the law. He was fond of polite literature, and 
particularly attached to the Latin classics; he therefore 
bestowed only so much attention on his less agreeable 
professional studies as was sufficient to save his credit 
with his uncle. * 

The death of this relative seemed to deprive him of 
many advantages : but he had now resolved to attend 
more seriously to his principal objects; and, without 
abandoning either that literature, or that conversation in 
which he delighted, to devote himself chiefly to the busi- 
ness of his profession. To recall, as he informs us, those 
wandering desires which render the mind inconstant and 
irresolute, he resolved to enter into the married state ; 
but his first pursuit, which had merely a convenient estate 
for its object, was unsuccessful, yet produced no lasting- 
uneasiness. In his next advances, his heart was more 
deeply interested. He married the daughter of Sir George 
AylifFe, a young lady very beautiful and nobly connected ; 
but, after the enj oyment of only six months of happiness, 
he had the affliction to see her suddenly ravished from 
him by the small-pox. The despondency produced by 

* Life, pp. 8, 9. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 395 

this misfortune for some time unfitted him for any active 
exertion ; and only the authority of his father, to whom 
he ever paid implicit obedience, could restrain him from 
going abroad to indulge more freely in his melancholy. 
Three years elapsed before the utmost importunity of his 
friends could induce him to turn his thoughts to another 
union ; when this young widower, who had not yet passed 
his twenty-fourth year, at length married the daughter of 
Sir Thomas Aylesbury, master of requests to the king • 
and by her he had afterwards a numerous progeny. # 

The success of Hyde, on his appearance at the bar, 
greatly surpassed the expectations of his contemporaries. 
He had, indeed, been very punctual in the performance 
of all those public exercises to which he was bound by the 
rules of the profession; but his habits, his society, his 
studies, seemed to indicate that he had in view some other 
course of life. He seldom dined in the hall of his Inn, 
and there were few of his own profession with whom he 
maintained more than a formal acquaintance. But he had 
been careful to form connexions which procured him a 
higher estimation, and which contributed much more di- 
rectly to his success. He had laid it down as a rule, to be 
always found in the best company ; and to attain, by every 
honourable means, an intimate friendship with the most 
considerable persons of the kingdom. While only a stu- 
dent of law, he enjoyed the society of Ben Jonson, the 
most celebrated wit of that age; of Selden, the most 
skilled of all English lawyers in the ancient constitution 
and history of his country; of May, a distinguished scholar, 
and afterwards the historian of the parliament ; of Sir 
Kenelm Digby, who was equally noted and acceptable in 
the camp and the court. Among those whom he had bound 
to himself by the most intimate ties of friendship, he could 
recount some of the most learned and celebrated divines, 
at a period when the clergy enjoyed peculiar distinction, 
and the church was an object of ambition, — Sheldon, 
* Life, pp. II, 12, 15. 



396 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

Morley, Earles, Hales, and, above all, Chillingworth, 
whose amiable qualities rendered him as beloved by his 
friends, as his controversial talents caused him to be feared 
by his antagonists ; Edmund Waller, who was not less 
admired by his contemporaries as an orator, than by pos- 
terity as a poet, was also among his intimate associates: 
but the friend whom he regarded with the most tender 
attachment, and the most unqualified admiration, was Sir 
Lucius Carey, afterwards Lord Falkland, whom he de- 
lights to describe as the most accomplished gentleman, 
scholar, and statesman of his age. # 

Nor did he neglect to form an intimacy with those who 
occupied a more prominent station in the eyes of the 
world. His zealous endeavours to procure reparation for 
a near relative of his first wife, a lady of high quality, 
whose reputation had been sullied in an amour, introduced 
him to a familiar intercourse with all her connexions,— 
persons of the first distinction at court; and, among 
others, with the Marquis of Hamilton, at that time the 
principal favourite of the king. From his reception by 
Lord Coventry, by the Earls of Pembroke, Manchester, 
Holland, and the other principal officers of the court, he 
found a great increase of consequence accrue to him in 
Westminster Hall ; but what most contributed to his po- 
litical influence was a friendship which he found means 
to cultivate with Archbishop Laud. After the death of 
Weston, Earl of Portland, the treasury was put into the 
hands of commissioners : and Laud, being among the 
number, proceeded with his usual industry to examine into 
the state of the customs, and discovered some instances in 
which the late lord treasurer had greatly harassed the 
merchants for the benefit of some favoured officers of the 
revenue. While his grace anxiously investigated this sub- 
ject, Hyde was accidentally mentioned to him as a lawyer 
with whom the merchants had consulted on the means of 
relief, and who could give him the fullest information. 
* Life, pp. 30, 37, 59. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 397 

An interview was the consequence of this intimation ; and 
so high an opinion did Laud conceive of the young coun- 
sellor's talents, that he expressed a desire to see him fre- 
quently, employed him on several occasions of consequence, 
and took every opportunity to make known the esteem in 
which he held him. # 

Such countenance from the prime minister procured him 
the most flattering reception in his profession. He was 
treated by the judges, and the more eminent counsellors, 
with a consideration to which no other lawyer of his years 
could pretend ; and clients became anxious to place their 
causes in the hands of a man who enjoyed such general 
reputation. He soon obtained considerable business, and 
might have procured much more: but he had determined 
that the thirst of money should not deprive him of those 
friendships and relaxations, without which life would have 
lost its sweetest attractions. He contrived, by a proper 
distribution of his time, to enjoy these pleasures, with as 
little hindrance as possible to his professional avocations. 
The hours of dinner, (which, at that period, were seldom 
later than twelve or one o'clock,) he always gave to the 
society of his friends ; and by that means continued to 
retain all his more valued intimacies. The morning was 
occupied in the courts of law ; and the afternoon he dedi- 
cated to the business of his profession, to taking instruc- 
tions, and forming his opinions. Yet he never suffered 
himself to be deprived of some hours, which he devoted 
to his favourite literature, and which he usually borrowed 
from sleep, or from leisure procured by habitually abstaining 
from supper. The vacations he gave wholly to literature 
and conversation ; nor did he ever spend any of those 
intervals on the more lucrative occupations of the circuits. 
When he quitted London during two months of the sum- 
mer, it was only to retire to his country-seat in Wiltshire, 
where his neighbours eagerly resorted to partake of his 
hospitality, f 

* Life, pp. 13, 27, 60. f Ibid, p. 28. 



398 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

He thus continued for some years to enjoy a life every 
way to his satisfaction. His domestic comfort was secured 
by a wife, who entirely dedicated herself to his views ; 
and by a promising family of three sons and a daughter, 
whom she brought him during this happy interval. Hyde 
was of a disposition to enter thoroughly into the enjoy- 
ments of social life. A competent fortune which he de- 
rived from inheritance, and an unusually rapid success in 
his profession, enabled him to live in a far more splendid 
style than was customary with lawyers.* In the company 
of Lord Conway, and some other noted epicures of that age, 
he had acquired a full relish for the pleasures of the table ; 
and as he discoursed learnedly on these topics, he might 
have been suspected of excesses in which he did not indulge. 

It must, however, be recorded to his honour, that he 
won the countenance of the great by no improper com- 
pliances, or degrading flattery. He made no scruple in 
expressing his opinions, even when he knew they would 
prove unacceptable. Of this an instance is recorded in 
his intercourse with Archbishop Laud. The primate's 
habitual manner was that of a man who means well, but 
deems it superfluous to pay any regard to the ordinary 
civilities of life. His want of breeding perpetually dis- 
gusted those who approached him ; and raised him up 
innumerable enmities. Hyde, who was aware of the 
archbishop's rectitude, and who concluded that his indis- 
creet conduct proceeded from the want of an advising 
friend, took a fit opportunity to mention to his grace the 
general prejudice which his harsh carriage excited ; and 
to state some late instances in which his seeming haugh- 
tiness had given offence. Laud took this admonition in 
good part ; defended himself on the ground of his good 
intentions, yet allowed the infirmity of his temper; and 
from that time forward received Hyde with increased 
kindness and familiarity .*|- 

* Life, pp. 66, 68. 

t Ibid, p. 63. See the character of Laud by Hyde, in Appendix (F.) 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 399 

The estimation which our young counsellor might have 
lost among the grave and prudent, by the dissipation of his 
youth, he soon recovered by the evidence which he gave 
of a staid and sober judgment. He was observed to have 
become thoroughly enamoured of the business of his pro- 
fession; and while he attracted around him persons of 
distinction by the liberality of his expenditure, he still 
increased his estate by some convenient purchases of land. 
Although naturally proud and passionate, and much given 
to disputation, yet so well had he subdued these vices of 
his temper by the influence of reflection and good com- 
pany, that he now appeared affable, courteous, and oblig- 
ing. The zeal which he manifested both for the doc- 
trine and the worship of the established church, and the 
attachment which he expressed to the king, secured to 
him the favour of the most powerful body in the state : 
people spoke with applause of his liberality, of the firm- 
ness of his friendships, and of his unblemished integrity.*' 

Such was the happy and respectable condition in which 
Hyde was overtaken by the first commotions of the civil 
wars. Being chosen a member of the parliament which 
met in April 1640, he did not suffer his known attach- 
ment to the court to prevent him from contributing his 
endeavours for the reformation of the abuses, with which 
the subjects were grievously oppressed. In his first 
speech, he denounced the marshal's court, a court which 
had of late years begun to take cognizance of disrespect- 
ful words to the higher orders of the state, and had been 
guilty of various acts of oppression not less wanton than 
intolerable.f His severe exposure of this absurd and 

* Life, p. 69. 

t Some curious instances of the vexatious proceedings of this court are 
mentioned in the speech of Hyde. A waterman, who demanded an 
exorbitant fare from a citizen, having met with a refusal, pointed to a 
badge on his coat ; and, being desired by the citizen to be gone with his 
goose, complained of the insult to the marshal's court. Here the unfortu- 
nate citizen found, that the badge which he had mistaken for a goose, was 
in fact a swan, and the crest of an earl, whose retainer the waterman was ; 
and for this grievous insult to nobility, he was subjected to such exces- 



400 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

odious tribunal acquired him much repute among the 
friends of reformation.*' 

It was with deep regret that he perceived the intention 
of the court to break with this parliament. He had almost 
procured a resolution favourable to the question of sup- 
plies, when the peremptory demand for twelve subsidies, 
which Sir Harry Vane made in the king's name, threw 
every thing into confusion. f He afterwards endeavoured 
to prevail on Laud to interpose his influence with the 
king against the fatal design of a dissolution; but he 
found the archbishop possessed with too bad an opinion 
of the commons to become a mediator.]: 

In the Long Parliament, which met towards the close of 
the same year, he found his known opinions and connex- 
ions far from acceptable. His attachment to Archbishop 
Laud, and his devotion to the established ecclesiastical 
government, were unpromising circumstances to those who 
meditated the overthrow of the prelate, and considerable 
changes in the church. Some fruitless attempts were 
made to find a flaw in his election, and to excite jealousies 
between him and his friends ; but the leaders of the po- 
pular party were at length contented to dissemble their 
animosity, and soften his opposition by civilities. § 

From the manner in which the court and the nation 
stood affected to each other, Hyde perceived that impor- 
tant political discussions were now at hand ; he, therefore, 
from the commencement of this parliament, laid aside his 
gown, and devoted himself wholly to public business. By 
standing forth the resolute advocate of what he considered 

sive damages as caused his ruin. On another occasion, a gentleman, 
having been waited on by his tailor, to demand a considerable sum of 
money which had been long due, replied only by bad words, and attempt- 
ed to thrust the importunate ci editor out of doors. The tailor, irritated 
by this usage, ventured to tell him that he was as good a man as himself: 
upon which he was summoned before the marshal's court, and glad to 
give up all his demands in lieu of damages. 

* Life, p. 72. f Hist - of Reb. vol. i., p. 109, folio edit. 1702. 

X Life, p. 7 5 * § Ibid, p. 70. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 401 

the established law, and by equally opposing the encroach- 
ments of the court and of the people, he soon obtained con- 
sideration with all moderate men; and was, without sus- 
picion of partiality, employed as chairman of the most 
important committees. He now procured the annihilation of 
the marshal's court ; # and having been appointed chairman 
of the committee for investigating the abuses of the council 
of York, he did not permit his regard for Strafford to pre- 
vent him from exposing, in glowing colours, the enormous 
oppressions to which the northern counties had been sub- 
jected by that jurisdiction^ Every one admired the con- 
scientious part which Hyde acted on this occasion, as it 
evidently contributed to increase that indignation against 
the earl, which, from personal feelings, he would have been 
glad to diminish. With equal rectitude and zeal, he con- 
ducted the impeachment of three barons of the exchequer, 
for iniquitous decisions in support of exactions imposed 
by royal authority in defiance of law. J 

A most important change had now taken place in the 
relative situation of the king and the parliament. Charles 
had not only failed in his attempt to render himself inde- 
pendent of that assembly, but had brought himself into a 
situation of such extreme difficulty, that he had now only 
to choose between a recourse to force or unlimited com- 
pliance. For the former he was not prepared ; and by the 
latter, he soon became divested of his original rank in the 
constitution. The parliament knew that necessity alone 
extorted from him his present concessions ; and they 
dreaded that he would seize the first opportunity of resum- 
ing w T hat he had so reluctantly granted. They seemed re- 
solved, therefore, to reduce his power within very narrow 
limits, and with this view judged it necessary that they 
themselves should be invested with exorbitant authority. By 
the act which rendered the parliament indissoluble, unless 

* Whitlocke, p 51. 

t Rushworth, vol. iv., p. 230. Lives of the Lords Chancellor, vol. i., p. G- 

t Ibid. 

2 D 



402 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

by their own consent, they became entirely independent of 
the king ; and the government was, in fact, converted into 
an irresistible oligarchy. 

Hyde, with Lord Falkland and other moderate men, 
had concurred in the salutary acts which were passed at 
the commencement of this parliament for the redress of 
many enormous grievances. But when they perceived 
that the fears of some men, and the ambition of others, 
induced them to draw more power into their hands than 
was consistent with the ancient constitution of the country, 
these loyal patriots took the alarm, and began to resist 
every change which could affect the prerogative. Hyde 
distinguished himself conspicuously in opposing encroach- 
ments on the privileges of the church. At the commence- 
ment of this parliament, there appeared no intention of 
introducing an alteration into the form of the established 
church government ; Lord Say seemed the only leader in 
either house, who regarded that form with animosity.* 
But the bishops, from the arbitrary maxims of government 
which they had abetted, and from their late oppressive 
proceedings in the court of high commission, had made 
themselves a number of enemies, and came gradually to 
be ranked among the decided opponents of the parlia- 
ment. At first it was proposed to deprive them of their 
seats in the house of peers ; but, at a subsequent period, 
motions were entertained for the utter extirpation of epis- 
copacy. All such propositions were strenuously resisted 
by Hyde. It was contended by those who desired to de- 
prive the bishops of their seats in parliament, that the 

* Hist, of Reb. vol. i., p. 145. Clarendon, from his personal knowledge 
of the parliamentary leaders and their views, assures us that, at the com- 
mencement of the Long Parliament, few of the members were disaffected 
to the church, and none seemed to entertain a prospect of its subversion. 
Even after the war had commenced, he tells us that " designs against the 
church were not yet grown popular in the two houses.''— Hist, of Reb. 
vol. h\, p. 51. At the treaty of Uxbridge, he represents the English 
commissioners as zealous in the business of religion, merely to gratify 
their Scottish allies.- Ibid, p. 448. In short, it seems uniformly his 
opinion, that the religious quarrel sprung out of the civil. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 403 

clergy were represented in the house of convocation, the 
proper assembly for debating ecclesiastical subjects ; that 
there was no adequate reason for allowing this profession, 
this class of public officers alone, their peculiar representa- 
tives in parliament ; and that the whole of this privilege 
had its foundation in an age of superstition, when the 
claims of ecclesiastics admitted of no resistance. But 
Hyde maintained that the antiquity of the privilege was 
an irrefragable argument in its favour ; that the temporal 
rights of the bishops were interwoven with the elements 
of our constitution; and that they could not be taken 
away without removing indispensable land-marks. Being 
appointed chairman of the committee to consider of the 
abolition of episcopacy, he contrived to interpose so many 
delays and difficulties in the proceedings, that the reform- 
ers at length grew weary, and for the present abandoned 
the project.* 

His exertions in favour of the royal cause were not 
always unattended with personal hazard. The commons 
having drawn up a remonstrance, in which they detailed 
all the grievances under which the nation had laboured, 
even those which had been redressed, Hyde formally pro- 
tested against a measure that could have no other object 
than to inflame the animosity of the people against the 
king. Protests, though usual in the house of peers, had 
never been admitted by the commons ; and for this offence 
he was, for some days, committed to the Tower.f 

The same occasion, however, brought him into a more 
intimate connexion with the monarch. Charles, who could 
not overlook his zealous exertions in behalf of the prero- 
gative, had already sent for him privately, and returned 
his acknowledgments for a support which he had in vain 
expected from his own immediate servants. His majesty 
was now presented by Lord Digby with a full answer to 
the remonstrance of the parliament, which Hyde, finding 
his protest in vain, had drawn up, and shown in confidence 
* Hist, of Reb. vol. i., p. 216. f Ibid, p. 249. 

2 d 2 



404 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

to his friend, without any intention of its being made 
further known.* Digby, however, took the first opportu- 
nity of expatiating on its merits to the king; who accord- 
ingly requested the paper from Hyde, and published it 
as the reply of the king and the council, concealing the 
name of the real author, at his own earnest desire.f 

But it soon became necessary that he should take a 
more active and decided part in support of government. 
The king was now without a single minister in the house 
of commons, who had either the courage or the inclination 
to stand forth as the advocate of his claims. He therefore 
resolved to confer the offices of state on those men, who, 
without any connexion with the government, were daily 
incurring reproach and danger in its defence. Lord Falk- 
land, who had hitherto held no direct intercourse with the 
court, was, to his surprise, nominated principal secretary 
of state : an office which he would have declined, had not 
Hyde, his most intimate friend, represented to him the 
irreparable injury which he would bring on the king's 
affairs, if he gave countenance to the opinion that the 
court was too vicious, or its condition too desperate, to 
receive the support of wise and virtuous men. The chan- 
cellorship of the exchequer was given to Sir John Cole- 
pepper, another independent royalist : and it was intended 
to deprive St. John, one of the king's most bitter enemies, 
of the office of solicitor-general, and to confer it on Hyde. 
To this proposition, however, Hyde absolutely refused his 
assent. He represented, that the displacing of St. John 
would only serve to exasperate the parliament; and that 
he himself could render much more effectual service to his 
majesty, by continuing his independent exertions, than by 

* Lord Digby had distinguished himself as a leader of the popular par- 
ty; but, on the question of Strafford's attainder, had dissented from them, 
and gone afterwards decidedly over to the court. His subsequent con- 
duct showed him better qualified for an opposition orator than for a mi- 
nister; since his rash counsels frequently proved very prejudicial to the 
interests of his master. 

f Life, p. 87. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 405 

appearing in any official character. To these reasons the 
king assented ; but at the same time committed to Hyde ? 
in conjunction with Falkland and Colepepper, the whole 
management of his affairs in the house of commons, with 
a solemn assurance that he would take no step relating to 
parliament without their advice and approbation.* 

But Charles on this, as on other occasions, was incapa- 
ble of adhering to prudent and consistent resolutions. The 
new counsellors had the mortification to see a step imme- 
diately taken, without any communication with them, 
which rendered all their future exertions fruitless, and a 
civil war inevitable. The queen, a woman of a rash and 
violent temper, who, from her education in the court of 
France, had imbibed the most arbitrary notions of mo- 
narchical power, was perpetually urging her husband to 
confound his rebellious subjects by bold and decisive 
measures. The invention of Lord Digby, who was now 
become her favourite minister, soon suggested an attempt 
suitable to these counsels. By his advice, the king, who 
too readily entered into all precipitate designs, suddenly 
caused a peer and five commoners to be impeached of high 
treason ; and accompanied this charge with a demand that 
they should immediately be delivered up to him for trial. 
The commons, more indignant than appalled, merely re- 
plied by a message to his majesty, that the persons im- 
peached should be forthcoming as soon as a legal charge 
was produced against them 4 ; but it was resolved at court, 
that the king, to follow up the measure with proper bold- 
ness, should next day go in person to the house, and seize 
on the accused members. Charles might have hesitated 
at so dangerous a proposal, but his resolution was speedily 
confirmed by the irresistible reproaches of his queen and 
the ladies of the court. When he presented himself in the 
house, he had the mortification to find, according to his 
own expression, that "the birds were flown;" and retired 

* Hist, of Reb. vol. i., pp. 267, 269. Life, pp. 88, 89. See in Appen- 
dix (F.) the characters of Lord Digby and St. John, as given by Hyde : 
also those of Hampden and Pym. 



406 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 



from his abortive attempt amidst loud and indignant cries 
of Privilege ! Privilege /* 

The consequences of this rash action were never re- 
trieved. The parliament had long apprehended that the 
king would, according to his custom on former dissolu- 
tions, take vengeance, by imprisonment, on those who 
had maintained an active opposition. But they now saw 
him, even while they continued to sit, attempting to inflict 
capital punishment on the popular advocates. The accused 
members were charged with an attempt to subvert the 
fundamental laws of the kingdom ; but in the particu- 
lar acts, on which this charge rested, many more had been 
equally implicated. Every one, therefore, took the accu- 
sation of the five members as a warning to himself ; and 
the more active opposers of the court from thencefor- 
ward saw no safety for themselves, but in depriving the 
monarch of the power to injure. 

Grieved and dispirited by such irretrievable errors, 
Hyde, with his colleagues, continued the melancholy task 
of supporting a cause which every day became more hope- 
less. He assures us, that both he and Falkland were of 
opinion that the king would be overwhelmed by his ene- 
mies ; and that they engaged in the royal cause solely 
from a sense of duty, and with a full persuasion that this 
course would terminate in their own ruin. As Hyde was 
employed in no official capacity, and desired to appear 
an independent supporter of the court, he could repair to 
the king only by stealth ; and the monarch was at times 
reduced to the painful necessity of meeting his faithful 
advocate at midnight on the back-stairs of the palace, f 
His task was both laborious and dangerous : he was e en- 
gaged to write answers, in the king's name, to all the 
declarations of the parliament, which soon became ex- 
tremely numerous. These delicate transactions afforded an 
instance of the secrecy and industry of which Charles was 

* Whitlocke, p. 52. Hist, of Reb. vol. i., p. 282. Rushworth, iv., p. 478. 
f Life, pp. 105, 106. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 40/ 

capable on particular occasions. As it would have proved 
very dangerous to Hyde, had he been known as the author 
of these replies, it was resolved that the secret, which was 
known only to his friends Falkland and Colepepper, should 
not be communicated to any other person whatever.* 
Charles, therefore, when he removed to a distance from 
these counsellors, was under the necessity of transcribing 
all the voluminous replies with his own hand, before he 
presented them to his council ; a task which he performed 
for many months, though it often cost him the labour of 
two or three days together, and frequently interfered with 
the hours of sleep.f 

Though the assistance which Hyde rendered to the court 
was concealed with the utmost caution, yet he had now 
become violently suspected by the popular leaders. Some 
of his private interviews with the king had been acciden- 
tally detected ; and it was discovered that two of the mi- 
nisters, Falkland and Colepepper, repaired nightly to his 
house to hold private consultations. The unusual portion 
of time which he now devoted to his closet, combined 
with these circumstances, infused a suspicion that he was 
the author of the king's declarations ; and a resolution was 
privately taken to deprive the royal cause of his obnoxious 
services, by committing him and his two associates to the 
Tower. This danger he for some time found means to 
elude ; but at length he perceived it necessary to quit 
London, and repair to York, where the king had now 
assembled his court, and employed himself in appealing 
to the nation against the parliament.^ 

* Falkland and Colepepper remained with Hyde in London for a con- 
siderable time after the king had quitted the parliament and retired 
to York. 

t Life, p. 108. 

X Life, pp. 113 — 120. A singular incident happened to Hyde, on his 
arrival at York. A lodging had been prepared for his reception, as a 
person belonging to the court, in the house of a respectable man, who ex- 
pressed much satisfaction at having the adherents of the king for his in- 
mates. But on being informed of the name of his new lodger, the land- 



408 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

Hyde now openly entered into the service of the king, 
but did not for some time occupy any official situation. 
He resisted an intention of his majesty to make room for 
his appointment as secretary of state, by the removal of 
another minister to a less profitable office ; and he waited 
with patience till the promotion of Sir J ohn Colepepper to 
the mastership of the rolls, left vacant for him the office 
of chancellor of the exchequer. He was at the same 
time knighted, and sworn of the privy council; and he 
reflected with satisfaction, that this preferment had been 
obtained without any connexion with the cabals of the 
court, and even without the privity of the queen. # 

While any prospect remained of terminating the contest 
between the king and the parliament otherwise than by 
the sword, Hyde, with Falkland and Colepepper, con- 
tinued their united exertions in the royal service. Though 
their tempers were dissimilar, yet their loyalty was equally 
ardent, and their opinions generally coincided. Colepep- 
per, a man of a rough and violent temper, was accustomed 
to triumph over the opposition of the king, from whom he 
often dissented, by that decisive and resolute tone which 
Charles could never resist. f Falkland; though the most 
kind-hearted, as well as the most loyal and honourable of 
men, could not bring himself, with a compliance which 
might seem connected with flattery, to assent to some of 
the king's most favourite notions, especially in regard to 
the church ; and his contradiction in these points alienated 
from him the affections of a sovereign, for whom he had 

lord suddenly burst forth into violent rage, and swore he would sooner 
set his house on fire than suffer such a person to lodge under his roof. 
The servants of Hyde stood amazed at the implacable wrath which now 
seemed to transport the whole family ; and Hyde himself was equally 
astonished, as he had never before visited York, nor, to his recollection, 
injured any of its inhabitants. The mystery, however, was quickly 
removed, when he discovered that his landlord had been an attorney of 
the council of York, where he had earned a handsome income, till the 
parliament, and Hyde more conspicuously than any other member, had 
pvocured the abolition of that court. 

* Life, pp. 140-144. f Ibid, p. 95. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 409 

devoted his life to foreseen destruction.* Hyde was more 
acceptable to the king than either of his colleagues ; for, 
on many important points, his sentiments much more 
nearly coincided with those of the monarch. No extremity 
ought, in his opinion, to induce his majesty to sanction 
any change in the church establishment : this tenet was 
sacredly maintained by Charles ; while both Falkland and 
Colepepper considered the form of ecclesiastical govern- 
ment as a matter of comparatively little importance, and 
at any time to be sacrificed to the interests of the sove- 
reign and the nation. Hyde was, like Falkland, the ad- 
vocate of peace ; but even peace, he thought, ought not to 
be purchased by foregoing any part of the prerogative ; 
while Falkland was of opinion that the king ought to 
gratify his people by many acts of compliance, and give 
up a portion of his power rather than hazard the whole.f 

The king, finding that the chancellor of the exchequer's 
sentiments so much corresponded with his own, began to 
regard them with particular confidence ; and, when strong- 
ly urged to any measure, usually inquired, " whether Ned 
Hyde was of that opinion? "J In a letter to the queen, 
who was at that time in Holland, his majesty used a still 
stronger expression : " I must make Ned Hyde secretary 
of state," said he, " for the truth is, I can trust nobody 
else." This conspicuous testimony to his fidelity cost him 
very dear ; for the letter was intercepted and published by 
the parliament, and he now became peculiarly obnoxious, 
not more to the enemies of the royal cause than to his fel- 
low-courtiers. § These instances of favour did not, how- 
ever, diminish his confidential intercourse with Falkland 
and Colepepper; and if he at any time differed from them, 
it was chiefly in regard to the affairs of the church. On 
one occasion, Hyde, without giving his reasons, opposed 
the publication of a state paper drawn up by Colepepper, 
and approved both by the king and Falkland ; but with- 

* Life, p. 03. f Ibid, pp. 92—97- J Ibid, p. 99. 

§ Ibid, p. 139. 



410 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

drew his opposition somewhat indignantly, in. consequence 
of a warm and sharp reproof from the latter. The king, 
however, became still farther attached to Hyde, when he 
discovered that his opposition had proceeded from his 
objection to a statement of Colepepper's, affirming that 
the king, the lords, and the commons, formed the three 
estates of the kingdom : whereas the king, in his opinion, 
should have been mentioned as the sovereign of the whole, 
and the bishops as the third estate. # 

In the fruitless attempts which were made to bring 
about a pacification between the king and the parliament, 
Hyde bore an active part. He was one of the commission- 
ers who attended the negotiations at Uxbridge, and distin- 
guished himself by his opposition to every concession 
which might have circumscribed the prerogative, or led to 
innovations in the government of the church. f Much, he 
thought, at this time, might be done by winning over from 
the parliament several of the most considerable men, who 
had indeed deeply offended, but repented of the length to 
which they had gone, and were desirous to avoid further 
excesses. But his influence was insufficient to counteract 
the clamour of the courtiers, and the resentment of the 
queen ; and he had daily the mortification to see men of 
rank and power converted into hardened enemies of their 
sovereign, by having their repentant submissions treated 
with coldness and contempt .J 

During the subsequent struggles, he discovered, with 
unspeakable pain, that the preceding abuses of the royal 
authority had very generally alienated the people from 
their allegiance ; that they obeyed the ordinances of the 
parliament, while they disregarded the proclamations of 
the king ; that contributions, large beyond precedent, 
were readily paid to that assembly, while the court was 
distracted by extreme poverty ; and that the troops of the 
king were actually reduced to famine, in the same counties 

* Life, p. 131. f Hist. of'Reb. vol. ii., p. 443. 

X Ibid, T pp. 254, 310. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 411 

where the army of his hostile subjects immediately after 
found abundant supplies.* 1 He saw a cloud of melancholy 
presage overhang the countenances of the most virtuous 
royalists ; and heard, from some, distressing doubts of the 
justice of the cause in which they were engaged. Sir 
Edward Varney, a gentleman of unshaken loyalty and 
distinguished courage one day complimented him on the 
cheerfulness and vivacity which he retained amidst the 
general depression. Hyde began to point out the propriety 
of every one's maintaining the appearance of hope, where 
despondency was likely to prove so fatal ; and hinted that 
to raise the drooping spirits of others was a duty peculiarly 
incumbent on men of known magnanimity like Varney. 
The latter replied, with a smile, that he should do his best 
to fulfil this task : " but my condition," said he, " is much 
worse than yours, and may well justify the melancholy 
which, I confess to you, possesses me. You are satisfied 
in your conscience that you are in the right; that the 
king ought not to grant what is required of him ; and so 
you do your duty and your business together. But, for 
my part, I like not the quarrel ; and do heartily wish that 
the king would yield and consent to all that is desired. It 
is only in honour and in gratitude that I am concerned to 
follow my master. I have eaten his bread, and served him 
near thirty years, and will not do so base a thing as to 
forsake him, but rather choose to lose my life, which I am 
sure I shall do, to defend and preserve those things which 
it is against my conscience to defend and preserve. For 
I will deal freely with you : I have no reverence for the 
bishops, for whom this quarrel subsists." Hyde, though 
unembarrassed by such doubts, was deeply affected with 
this conscientious avowal ; and still more when he learnt, 
about two months afterwards, that this faithful and gal- 
lant soldier had fallen in the cause of his sovereign. f 

As the chancellor of the exchequer took no active part 
in the military operations to which the fate of all parties 
* Hist, of Reb. vol. ii., p. 265. f Life, p. 134. 



412 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

was now committed, his counsels attracted little notice 
amidst the noise of war and the violence of contending 
factions. He was reduced to the painful task of witness- 
ing disorders which he could not remedy, and calamities 
which he could not avert. He saw the king, in his deepest 
distress, cruelly harassed by the importunities of his rapa- 
cious and unfeeling courtiers, who did not blush to seize 
on the day of his calamity to extort from him honours 
which they had not earned, and offices which they could 
only occupy to his ruin. # He saw a faction of women 
acquiring an ascendancy in the management of affairs, 
confounding the wisest counsels by their visionary schemes, 
and paralysing the most vigorous plans by their fears. He 
saw the military officers, on whose good conduct the king 
now depended for his throne and his life, wasting the 

* There is scarcely any circumstance, in perusing the records of that 
period, which more powerfully excites our indignation, than the unprin- 
cipled selfishness which pervaded the immediate servants and dependents 
of the king. Hyde and Falkland were almost the only attendants on 
the court, who, in no instance, betrayed a tincture of this abject spirit. 
Even Sir John Colepepper, after his promotion to the mastership of the 
rolls, endeavoured also to retain the chancellorship of the exchequer, and 
took it very heavily that he was not allowed to engross the emoluments 
of both offices. — Life, p. 143. The rapacity of the courtiers of those 
times, a vice at present comparatively so rare and infamous, may be tra- 
ced to the peculiar customs of that period. As the revenue of the nation 
came directly into the hands of the king, and was entirely at his disposal, 
he might, at his pleasure, either employ it on public purposes, or lavish 
it on his favourite courtiers ; and the latter was frequently its destina- 
tion. Hence, it was a usual practice with men of considerable private 
fortunes, to waste them in adding to the magnificence of the court, and in 
attracting the notice of the king, in the expectation that the zeal mani- 
fested by their profusion would earn far greater riches from his bounty. 
A great proportion of the courtiers of Charles were persons of this 
description ; and as their habits of dissipation rendered their wants ex- 
tremely pressing, at a period when the court was in the utmost poverty, 
their clamorous demands were frequently among the most intolerable 
embarrassments of the monarch. It was owing to this mode of obtaining 
favours at court, that menial offices about the person of the monarch 
were at that period so eagerly sought after ; they afforded opportunities 
of urging requests at a propitious moment. — See Hyde's account of Cole- 
pepper, in Appendix (F.) 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 413 

season of action in dissipation ; incurring irretrievable dis- 
asters from a pitiful spirit of faction ; insisting on the re- 
jection of all terms of accommodation, from the hope of 
plundering the rebels ; rendering the royal name odious 
by countenancing the soldiery in depredations on the in- 
habitants ; and finally, on the ruin of their cause, forsaking 
their standards, and seeking for safety in foreign countries, 
or, in some cases, in desertion to the enemies of their king.* 
But before the affairs of the sovereign were overtaken 
by this final ruin, Hyde was deprived of his most beloved 
friend, and the country of its most virtuous royalist, in the 
premature fall of Lord Falkland. From the commence- 
ment of the civil war, and the mutual slaughter of his 
countrymen, the enlivening gaiety, the unbounded affability, 
the winning mildness of Falkland,f were converted into 
a fixed melancholy, an ungracious reserve, a repulsive 
asperity. He became pale and dejected ; his looks and 
words expressed unconquerable chagrin; and his dress, to 
which he had formerly been particularly attentive, was 
now remarkable only for its negligence. One topic alone 
could rouse him from his despondency : when any pro- 
position towards peace was brought forward, his counte- 
nance brightened, and he zealously pursued the cheering 
prospect while any hope could be cherished. As he sat 
among his friends, he would often, after a deep silence 
and frequent sighs, reiterate in a piercing accent the word 
peace ! peace ! He would then declare, that " the very 
agony of the war, and the view of the calamities and deso- 
lation which the kingdom endured, deprived him of his 
sleep, and would shortly break his heart." These expres- 
sions were interpreted into cowardice and disloyalty by 
the unprincipled soldiers of fortune, who looked forward 
with eager eyes to the plunder of their opponents; and 
Falkland accounted himself bound in honour to refute 
their calumnies, by being prodigal of a life which the good 
of his country required him to hold dear. In every action 
* Hist, of Reh. vol. ii., passim. f Life, p. 45. 



414 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

he stationed himself, as a volunteer, in the foremost ranks, 
and acted his part with invincible courage : but no sooner 
did the enemy give way, than he employed his whole 
efforts to stop the carnage, and seemed to have come into 
the field merely to save the effusion of blood. In the 
battle of Edgehill, he incurred imminent danger by these 
noble acts of humanity. But he was relieved from wit- 
nessing the protracted miseries of his country. At the 
first battle of Newbury, which took place early in the war, 
he seemed to feel a presage that the termination of his 
sorrows was at hand. He adjusted his dress with more 
care than he had for some time observed, declaring that 
he did not wish the enemy to find his body in a slovenly 
condition. " I am weary of the times/' added he, " and 
foresee much misery to my country; but believe that I 
shall be out of it ere night." As he bore his part in the 
first onset, he was mortally wounded ; and expired, in the 
thirty-third year of his age, leaving behind him one of the 
fairest reputations which history can boast.* 

After the battle of Naseby, when the affairs of the king 
began to appear irretrievable even to the most sanguine, 
Charles resolved to place his eldest son beyond the reach 
of the parliament, by sending him out of the kingdom. 
He selected the Lords Capel and Hopton, as the servants 
in whom he could most confide; and joining with them 
Hyde and Colepepper, he appointed them to attend the 
prince as a permanent council, to watch over his safety, 
and direct all his proceedings, f The charge was delicate, 
and was soon found to be attended with a number of diffi- 
culties. The queen had by this time withdrawn to France, 
and was particularly desirous that the prince also should 
repair thither, and be placed under her direction. Such 
was her influence over her husband, that, in his first orders 
to the prince's council, he had commanded them to carry 

* Whitlocke, pp. 73, 74, Hist, of Reb. vol. ii., pp. 270, 277- See his 
character by Hyde in Appendix (F.) 
t Life, p. 90. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 415 

him to France, and place him under his mother's care, 
without leaving them any discretionary power.* But the 
council knew that no step could be more prej udicial to the 
interests either of the king or the prince ; that the queen 
was odious in England, even to the most loyal subjects, 
from a suspicion that she had instilled into her children the 
principles of popery ; and that indignation would be ex- 
cited among the best friends of the king, were the prince 
to be delivered into her hands. There was also reason to 
distrust the friendly intentions of the French court. Car- 
dinal Mazarine, who now directed its councils, had pre- 
vented any effectual assistance from being rendered to 
Charles, and was supposed to maintain a confidential inter- 
course with the leaders of the parliament. It was there- 
fore not impossible that he might, from the views of a 
crooked politician, become subservient to their designs, and 
dispose of the prince according to their instructions. But 
the queen was too intent on the plan of acquiring an un- 
ccntroulable ascendancy over the mind of the prince, to be 
moved by these considerations. And although the coun- 
cil at length procured a discretionary power to convey 
their charge to Denmark, or to any other foreign country,-}- 
they found this permission unavailing against her zealous 
intrigues. 

From Scilly, whither they had at first fled from the arms 
of the parliament, they carried the prince to Jersey, an 
island distinguished for its loyalty, and well provided with 
the means of defence. Here he might, in security, and 
without particular offence to any party, have awaited the 
course of events in England; but he was immediately 
assailed by the commands of his mother, to repair without 
delay to her at Paris. At first the authority of the council, 
who decidedly opposed his departure, induced him to resist 
these applications : but at length the love of new scenes 
triumphed in the breast of a youth, who had only passed 
his fifteenth year ; and he quitted Jersey, attended by only 
* Hist, of Reb. vol. ii., p. 527- t Ibid, pp. 546, 547. 



416 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

one of his council, Lord Colepepper, who had been won 
over to the views of the queen.* 

Hyde remained in Jersey, and now began, in a tranquil 
retreat, to solace himself for the dangers and troubles 
through which he had passed. In the cheerful society of 
the governor, Sir George Carteret, and his lady, who 
received him with cordial hospitality into their family, he 
again enj oyed the pleasures of home ; and so happily could 
his mind dispel uneasy recollections, that, though placed 
at a distance from his wife, his children, and his dearest 
friends, he assures us he ever afterwards recalled, with 
delight, that interval of peaceful tranquillity. In the 
castle, he built a suite of apartments for his own use, and 
placed over the door an inscription, which indicated that 
he accounted his part sufficiently discharged in those tur- 
bulent times, if he could escape into guiltless obscurity.f 
Here he pursued the design which he had conceived, of 
recording to posterity the events of the civil wars : and he 
speaks, with a pardonable complacence, of the unremit- 
ting diligence with which, in the space of two years and 
some months spent in this retreat, he compiled his volu- 
minous records.J 

While his pen was employed in labouring for posterity, 
he found an opportunity of writing a seasonable reply to a 
declaration of the parliament. The king, after having in 
vain tried the loyalty of the Scots and the army, had at- 
tempted to escape from his dominions ; but, by the mis- 
conduct of those who attended him, was taken prisoner, 
and confined in the Isle of Wight. Having rejected the 
propositions which the parliament now sent him, as alto- 
gether extravagant, they retaliated by a vote that no more 
addresses should be made to him. This vote they accom- 
panied by a declaration, in which they charged him with 

* Hist, of Reb. vol iii., p. 21. 

f The inscription was, Bene vixit, qui bene latuit: He hath lived well, 
who hath lain well concealed. 
% Life, p. 202. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 417 

having caused all the calamities under which the king- 
dom suffered, and with having rejected every overture for 
accommodation. For these reasons, they held themselves 
justified in discontinuing any further addresses to him, and 
in proceeding, by their own authority, to provide for the 
welfare of the kingdom. # To this declaration the chan- 
cellor of the exchequer published a reply, vigorously re- 
torting the charges of the parliament, and demonstrating 
the illegality of their present proceedings. The king was 
much pleased with this vindication; and, in particular, 
expressed surprise at the author's profound skill in theo- 
logical questions. f 

From his peaceful retreat in Jersey, Hyde was at length 
summoned to attend the Prince of Wales, who had now 
found an opportunity for action. The fleet, which had 
greatly injured the royal cause by an early submission to 
the parliament, now resolved to atone for their error, by 
again transferring their services to the king. With this 
intention, a large squadron sailed for the ports of the 
United Provinces ; and, after taking on board the prince, 
who had repaired thither to join them, had returned to 
blockade the Thames. Here, amidst the distraction of 
uncertain counsels, several valuable merchant vessels were 
successively captured, and released or ransomed far below 
their value. J Though the king was then confined in the 
Isle of Wight, and might, by a vigorous attempt of the 
fleet, have been rescued, the precious interval was wasted 
in a blockade of the river, and the parliament was allowed 
to prepare a naval force. The fruitless enterprise was at 
length terminated by the hasty retreat of the prince, before 
a superior force, to the ports of Holland. § 

* Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., p. 71. t Life, p. 204. 

X These vessels belonged to the merchants of London, and were restored 
on easy terms with a view to conciliate the citizens ; a policy which 
proved ineffectual, and is much condemned by Clarendon, who thinks 
that none but severe remedies ought to have been applied to their dis- 
tempered minds. 

§ Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., pp. 121, 124. 

2 E 



418 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

It was on the return from this abortive expedition that 
the chancellor of the exchequer met the Prince of Wales 
at the Hague ; and found himself engaged in a scene of 
confusion and animosity, which made him look back with 
fond regret to the tranquil retirement he had been compel- 
led to abandon. The misfortunes of the royalists, instead 
of softening, had exasperated their minds ; and a commu- 
nity in misery seemed to give a new edge to their mutual 
resentments. Reduced from a licentious prodigality to 
galling poverty, they grasped, without honour or decency, 
at the scanty resources which the cold generosity of fo- 
reign princes bestowed on their master ; and we are tempt- 
ed by turns to ridicule and to lament the furious contests 
for power and pre-eminence, which agitated this handful of 
exiled courtiers. To such a degree had private passions 
absorbed every other consideration in the breasts of these 
unfortunate men, that some of them had even laboured to 
excite a mutiny in the fleet with a view to oppress their 
rivals, and overlooked the danger of shaking the allegiance 
of the sailors in their ardour to prevent their being led by 
their antagonists. # 

As the chancellor had borne no part in these intrigues, 
his arrival was welcomed by all parties ; and he was soon 
beset by the contending courtiers, who endeavoured to 
draw him to their faction, by bitter invectives against 
their opponents. f He beheld, with extreme concern, these 
dissensions, so indecent amidst public calamities, and so 
ruinous to the royal cause : he exerted all his powers of 
conciliation to allay them ; yet could he scarcely prevent 
Prince Rupert and Lord Colepepper from terminating, by 
a personal fray, the insults which they offered to each 
other in the presence of the Prince of Wales and the coun- 
cil. J The news of the king's death for a time diffused 
universal melancholy and consternation; yet, in a few 
weeks, the animosities of the courtiers reassumed their 
former virulence, and distracted the councils of their new 

* Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., p. 107. t Ibid, p. 128. $ Ibid, p. 149. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 419 

sovereign. <f I find," exclaims Hyde on this occasion? 
" that no desolation upon the public, no lowness of the 
court, will lessen our particular ambitions, or private 
designs."* 

Amidst a society so misled by private passions, a man 
of moderation and disinterested zeal, like Hyde, could not 
long prove acceptable; and he soon found himself aspersed 
by the calumnies of those who were unable to render him 
subservient to their factious purposes. Above all, he was 
pursued with animosity by the adherents of the queen, 
who was his avowed foe. That ambitious princess had 
learned to regard as her private enemy every minister who 
pretended to any independent favour with her husband; 
and Hyde, who had acquired the confidence of his sove- 
reign by means more honourable than enlisting himself 
among her creatures, had become, in her eyes, not less 
odious than Laud or Strafford. From his attachment to 
the church of England and to moderate measures, his 
counsels had often differed from those of her majesty ; 
and she had hence been led to charge to his account every 
resolution which corresponded not with her desires. When 
he was appointed of the prince's council, she began to 
dread that he would undermine her ascendancy over her 
son, as she imagined he had her influence with her hus- 
band ; and his strenuous opposition to the departure of the 
prince from Jersey to France confirmed all these impres- 
sions. Her ambition, however, was not guided by discre- 
tion; and the means which she employed to secure her 
sway over her son, effectually counteracted her intentions. 
Instead of settling on him separate appointments, the 
court of France had merely increased the allowance of his 
mother ; and, having him thus wholly in her power, she 
took care to make him feel his absolute dependence, by 
dealing her bounty with so sparing a hand, that he had 
never, at one time, ten pistoles at his disposal.^ Yet was 

* Letter to Lord Jermyn, in Clarendon's State Papers, vol. ii., p. 473. 
t Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., p. 88. 
2 E 2 



420 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

she surprised to find that his affections daily became more 
estranged from her; and when Hyde afterwards joined 
him at the Hague, she failed not to ascribe to his intrigues 
an alienation which naturally flowed from her own illibe- 
rality. So eager was she to govern the mind of the prince, 
that, in her first letters to him after her husband's death, 
she could not, though overcome with the melancholy 
intelligence, forbear introducing an injunction that he 
should swear in no members of his council till he had first 
consulted her. # And when she found this injunction dis- 
regarded, and the chancellor of the exchequer among the 
first of the new sovereign's counsellors, she here discovered 
fresh proofs of his hostility to her influence. 

From the inheritance of a throne, Charles had not even 
derived a roof to shelter his head ; and the first councils 
of the new monarch were occupied in deliberating what 
quarter of Europe might best afford him subsistence and 
refuge. His removal from Holland became indispensable, 
in consequence of the increasing connexions of that coun- 
try with the revolutionary government of England. Some 
prospect was open for active enterprise in Ireland ; but the 
assistance of France was necessary for its successful pro- 
secution, and the prince was to repair to Paris before 
proceeding on the attempt. In this state of things, Hyde 
looked forward to his future attendance with uneasiness. 
His constitution, enfeebled by former hardships, and by 
premature paroxysms of the gout, was ill prepared to sus- 
tain the vicissitudes of hasty journeys and uncertain voy- 
ages : his habits were altogether unsuited to the active 
enterprises of war ; and to remain in France, exposed to 
the hatred of the queen and the insults of her dependents, 
was the most gloomy of alternatives. He therefore wil- 
lingly hearkened to the suggestions of his friend and 
colleague, Lord Cottington, that they should procure for 
themselves a mission into Spain, for the purpose of solicit- 
ing the assistance of that monarchy. Their request was 
* Hist, of Reb. vol. Hi , p. 216. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 421 

readily complied with by Charles, but their motives were 
severely scrutinized by the other courtiers. The chancel- 
lor of the exchequer was reproached with being more con- 
cerned for his ease than the discharge of his duty ; with 
deserting his prince at the season of greatest danger ; and 
with abandoning his youth and indiscretion to the guidance 
of the selfish and the vicious.* But Hyde was weary of 
the society into which he had fallen ; and equally dispi- 
rited by the state of the royal cause, and the perpe- 
tual contentions of the needy men by whom he was sur- 
rounded, f " He did believe," as he informs us, " that he 
should in some degree improve his understanding, and 
very much refresh his spirits, by what he should learn, 
and by his absence from being continually conversant 
with those wants which could never be severed from that 
court, and that company which would be always corrupt- 
ed by those wants. J 

The reception which the ambassadors found in Spain 
was such as the servants of exiled princes usually expe- 
rience. Their business, — solicitation for supplies, was 
unwelcome to an embarrassed government : and, if they 
could present no cogent motives of hope or fear, they had 
little reason to expect that interest would be sacrificed to 
a romantic generosity. On arriving, as the fortunes of 
their master were accounted desperate, and the favour of 
the parliament eagerly courted by the rival governments of 
France and Spain, they were allowed to enter Madrid un- 
acknowledged and unnoticed. No house was prepared for 
their reception as ambassadors, nor any outward tokens of 
respect vouchsafed them. When at length their importu- 
nities and a regard to decency procured them an audience, 
they were amused with general professions of friendship, 
the sincerity of which they were left to estimate from the 
coldness and neglect which they daily experienced. The 
appearance of Prince Rupert on the coasts of Spain, with 
the royal fleet, produced a sudden and wonderful change : 
* Life, p. 218. f Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., p. 235. J Life, p. 219. 



422 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

the ambassadors were received at court with open arms, 
all their requests answered with magnificent promises, and 
their doors honoured by the most illustrious visitors.^ So 
long as Prince Rupert was an object of terror, the Spa- 
niards seemed entirely at their devotion ; but the arrival of 
a superior fleet, in the service of the parliament, quickly 
altered the face of affairs, and the ambassadors again 
found themselves consigned to neglect.f The accounts 
that the Scots had declared for Charles, and placed him 
at the head of a powerful army, renewed the smiles of 
the Spanish courtiers ; but when reports arrived that the 
prince had been irretrievably defeated, the ambassadors 
received very distinct intimations that their absence would 
be agreeable.J 

Unwilling to abandon the hope of succour, and un- 
certain whither to go, the ambassadors resolved not to 
understand these ungracious hints ; but no room was left 
for a dubious interpretation, when the secretary of state, 
one morning, repairing unexpectedly to their residence? 
delivered them an express command from the king, that 
they should quit the Spanish dominions without delay. If 
they were moved at this extraordinary rudeness, and the 
hardship imposed on them at so inclement a season of the 
year, (it was then towards the end of January,) their in- 
dignation was not lessened on discovering the immediate 
cause of this royal message. A large assortment of valu- 
able pictures and rich furniture, which the Spanish envoy 
at London had purchased at the sale of the king's property, 
had just arrived in port; and it appeared indecorous to 
convey them to the palace before the eyes of the English 
ambassadors. § Lord Cottington, who had now attained 
his seventy-sixth year, was weary of wanderings to which 
he saw no end ; and having formerly lived much in Spain, 
and embraced the Catholic religion, he returned to the 
bosom of that church, and obtained permission to pass the 
* Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., p. 262. f Ibid, p. 263. J Ibid, p. 21)5. 
§ Ibid, p. 295. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 423 

remainder of his days in private at Valladolid. # Hyde 
was dismissed with tolerable civility j but could carry with 
him no impressions favourable to the generosity of the 
Spaniards, who had not only neglected him in his public 
capacity, but had seen him reduced to an indigence almost 
incredible. f 

On quitting Spain, it was some time before Hyde could 
discover the retreat of his fugitive prince, who, after wit- 
nessing the ruin of all his hopes at the battle of Worcester, 
had disappeared from his affrighted adherents. J After 
wandering, unattended and disguised, through various 
parts of England, he at length escaped to the Continent, 
and reaped no other fruit from his dangers and hardships 
but an aggravation of his misfortunes. This rash enter- 
prise served only to confirm the power and reputation of 
Cromwell, and was severely censured by Hyde. He placed 
little reliance on either the fidelity or the strength of the 
Scots; but the taking of the covenant by Charles, the 
price of the Scottish assistance, he looked on as an act so 
profligate and impious, that no consequences could be ex- 
pected from it but defeat and disgrace. He knew that the 
young king neither intended to perform what he promised, 

* Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., p. 297. See Appendix (F.) for Hyde's account 
of Lord Cottington. 

f At one period of his embassy, he writes to a friend, " I never felt the 
like want I have done these three weeks, since I was born ; and if I had 
a pistole to dispose of in that time, I am no honest man." — State Papers, 
vol. iii., p. 21. 

X The Scots, perceiving that Cromwell and the Independents were no 
less enemies to their covenant than the court had been, resolved to es- 
pouse the royal cause, and invited Charles to put himself at the head of 
their forces. They however took the precaution of entering into certain 
stipulations with him, both for religious and civil privileges ; and, in par- 
ticular, they required him to take the covenant, a step to which he was 
also urged by the queen, who thought such arts very allowable for the 
recovery of a throne. But the Scots were unequal antagonists to Crom- 
well. After experiencing one defeat, they indeed levied another army, 
with which Charles, leaving the enemy behind him, suddenly marched 
into England ; but was overtaken at Worcester by Cromwell, and totally 
routed. 



424 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

nor believed that to which he solemnly swore; and he 
was of opinion, that no worldly consideration could j ustify 
such a flagrant violation of conscience. " It is now to no 
purpose," writes he on this occasion, "to talk more of 
that sad argument, which can be justified by no human 
reason, let the success be what it will : we must only rely 
on God Almighty, who will in the end bring light out of 
this darkness ; and, I am confident, they who shall, in 
spite of all evil examples, continue honest and steady to 
their good principles, what distresses soever they may for 
a time suffer, will in the end find happiness even in this 
world ; and that all your dexterous compliers will be 
exposed to the infamy they deserve. " # 

In expectation, therefore, of brighter days, he resolved to 
follow the fortune of his sovereign, however discouraging, 
and to retain his integrity as the unfailing anchor of his 
hopes. At Paris, where he now joined the king, he un- 
dertook, in the absence of his friend Sir Edward Nicholas,f 
to act as principal secretary of state ; and soon found 
himself involved in the cabals and dissensions from which 
he had gladly escaped. The followers of the king were 
divided between the favourers of the Presbyterian and of 
the Popish factions ; and Hyde, who resolutely maintained 
his attachment to the church of England, was equally 
disliked by both, j The queen, who had now lost all in- 
fluence over the mind of her son, was exasperated to see 
that confidence, to which she in vain aspired, cordially 
reposed in the chancellor of the exchequer ; and to such 

* Hyde to Secretary Nicholas, State Papers, vol. iii., p. 22. 

•f Sir Edward Nicholas had been secretary of state during the whole of 
the civil commotions, and had discharged his duty with disinterested fide- 
lity. He was the bosom friend of Hyde, and rendered him some essential 
services, by affording pecuniary relief to his family during their exile 
Nicholas was now in Holland, watching the course of events, and availing 
himself of any occasion to promote the interests of his master. The cor- 
respondence which, at this period, passed between him and Hyde, has 
fortunately been preserved ; and it is from hence we derive the most in- 
teresting particulars concerning the exiles. 

X State Papers, vol. iii., p. 138. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 425 

an extremity did she and her partisans carry their animo- 
sity, that they were willing to do any mischief to the cause, 
provided they could render the services of his minister 
unsuccessful.* The most bitter calumnies were circulated 
against the chancellor : he was even stigmatized as a trai- 
tor ; and a report was confidently divulged, that he had 
been in England, and entered into an intrigue with Crom- 
well.f These incessant efforts of malice preyed on his 
quiet ; and, in his letters to his confidential friend, Secre- 
tary Nicholas, we often find him lamenting this cruel 
aggravation of his misfortunes. " The vexations I under- 
go, by what I see and hear daily, and the insupportable 
weight of envy and malice I groan under, when I behave 
myself, (God knows,) with as much care as if I were to 
die the next minute, does make my life so unpleasant to 
me, and breaks my mind, that bread and water in any 
corner of the world would give me all the joy imaginable. "J 
" Oh !" he exclaims, "to be quiet and starve is no unplea- 
sant condition to what I endure. "§ He often looked back 
with an eye of regret to his tranquil retreat in Jersey, and 
envied the lot of those who might quietly enjoy their 
studies and poverty. " I wish," says he, " that I were at 
my books in any part of the world : for I am not made for 
these conflicts. "|| He was often tormented with the gout, 
and worn out by the pressure of business. Occasionally 
he expressed to his friend an apprehension that he should 
sink under his difficulties : " yet," he adds, " I am per- 
suaded, if I might be quiet and left to my books, I should 
outlive this storm ; whereas this condition I am in breaks 
my mind and wastes my spirits so much, that I cannot 
hold out long."1f 

The animosity of the queen towards him became so 
avowed, that he found it necessary at length to avoid her 
presence ; and though they both lodged in the same palace 
at Paris, he did not once see her in the course of many 

* State Papers, vol. iii., p. 164. f Ibid, p. 206. + Ibid, p. 169. 
§ Ibid, p. 63. || Ibid, p. 2 1 1 . f Ibid, p. 216. 



426 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

months. Two formal petitions were prepared, the one in 
the name of all the Presbyterian loyalists, the other as the 
desire of all his majesty's Popish subjects, praying that 
the chancellor of the exchequer should be removed from 
his councils and his presence, as a person whom all his 
friends regarded as their enemy.* Such intrigues, how- 
ever, made no impression on Charles, who saw through 
their malice, and continued to place unlimited confidence 
in Hyde. That prince had considerable penetration, and 
easily distinguished the disinterested zeal of the chancellor 
from the selfish motives of others. Besides, even in this 
his day of penury, Charles was immoderately addicted to 
pleasure ; and neither the pressure of difficulties, nor the 
hopes of recovering a crown, could induce him to bestow a 
reasonable attention on his affairs. While his minister was 
so continually engaged in carrying on the correspondence 
with the loyalists in every part of Europe, that he had 
scarcely leisure for the necessary refreshment of his body, 
Charles could prevail on himself to write letters only on 
Friday ; and, when that day happened to be occupied by 
some other engagement, which was often the case, the 
most essential despatches were deferred for another week.f 
From these dissolute habits, his ministers began to appre- 
hend the worst consequences ;% and the faithful Marquis 
of Ormond, who had succeeded Falkland in the friendship 
and esteem of Hyde, lamented that his dissipation contri- 
buted more to the ruin of his cause, than all the strength 
of his enemies. " I fear/' writes the marquis, " his im- 
moderate delight in empty and vulgar conversations is 
become an irresistible part of his nature, and will never 
suffer him to animate his own designs, or the actions of 
others, with that spirit which is requisite to his quality, 
and much more to his fortune. "§ To a prince so engrossed 
by the love of pleasure, no treasure could be more valu- 

* Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., p. 398. f State Papers, vol. iii., p. 159. 

X Hyde to Nicholas, State Papers, vol. iii., p. 173. 
§ Ormond to Hyde, ibid, p. 387. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 427 

able than a minister on whose fidelity he could implicitly 
rely, and whose industry would repair the evils of his own 
neglect. No arts, therefore, could induce Charles to with- 
draw his countenance from Hyde. He even heard his 
remonstrances without displeasure ; and was willing to be 
admonished, provided he was relieved from labour. 

As the period of exile was protracted, the necessities of 
Charles and his followers increased : they received little 
alleviation from his brother monarchs, who seem never to 
have been led, by so striking an example, to reflect on the 
strange vicissitudes of human affairs. By dint of impor- 
tunity, his agents had drawn from the princes of Germany 
some promises of pecuniary contributions ; but of these, 
the few which were paid could seldom be recovered from 
the grasp of the agents employed to receive them. The 
royal family of France, though so nearly connected with 
the exiled prince by the ties of kindred, contributed very 
little to his relief. At one time, Charles flattered himself 
with deriving a more independent relief from the exertions 
of his fleet, which had made several rich prizes from the 
West India trade of England ; but when he came to inquire 
after his share of the booty, he had the mortification to 
receive from his cousin Prince Rupert, the admiral, a state- 
ment of expense, which made Charles appear much in debt 
by the operations from which he expected supplies. # 

Hyde sustained his full share of the general indigence ; 
for he could neither intercept the scanty supplies of his 
necessitous master, nor submit to any device inconsistent 
with his character. In his despatches to his friend Sir 
Edward Nicholas, we find him frequently complaining of 
his urgent wants. " I am so cold," says he, " that I am 

* State Papers, vol. iii., p. 224. Hyde apprehended that there was 
something worse than want of generosity in the conduct of Prince Rupert 
on this occasion. " The Prince Rupert," says he, " hath, in a little 
short paper, not containing twenty lines, given the king an account, by 
which he makes the king in debt to him so senselessly and ridiculously, as 
cannot be imagined ; and this is a secret, for he desires it may not be 
seen, nor does he imagine that I have seen it." 



428 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

scarce able to hold my pen, and have not three sous in the 
world to buy a faggot."*' Again, " It is now mid-winter, 
and I have neither clothes nor fire to preserve me from the 
severity of the season."f He had been obliged to incur 
such debts for the mere necessaries of life, that he began 
to look with apprehension to the gloom of a prison ; J and 
he could no longer procure a dress sufficient either for com- 
fort or appearance. " I want shoes and shirts," says he ; 
" and the Marquis of Ormond is in no better condition."^ 
Those men, who had so lately lived in affluence and splen- 
dour, were now taught to devise the most frugal expe- 
dients for subsistence. They procured a maintenance at 
the most moderate rate, by messing together at an obscure 
eating-house ; and, after their pockets were fairly emptied 
even by this economical arrangement, they had sufficien 
credit with their landlady to live for some time on trust. 
At this period, Hyde assures us he scarcely knew one of 
the king's servants who had a single pistole in his pocket. 
" I have not," he says, " been master of a crown these 
many months ; I am cold for want of clothes and fire, and 
owe for all the meat which I have eaten these three months, 
and to a poor woman who is no longer able to trust ; and 
my poor family at Antwerp (which breaks my heart) is in 
as sad a state as I am ; and the king as either of us."|| 

Notwithstanding this severe pressure, Hyde still main- 
tained the same erect aspect ; and turned with disdain from 
every proposal which might have compromised his inte- 
grity. Some of the king's followers embraced the Catholic 
religion, and entered into the service of France and Spain : 
a still greater proportion returned to England, and, by 

* Hyde to Nicholas, State Papers, vol. iii., p. 126. f Ibid, p. 112. 

+ Ibid, p. 164. § Ibid, p. 229. 

|| Ibid, p. 124. The wretchedness to which some of the king's faithful 
followers were reduced, almost exceeds belief. Hyde thus writes to Ni- 
cholas : " Poor Dick Harding is again fallen into a new pit. Upon my 
credit, he hath pawned every little thing he hath ; the cup which the 
prince gave him, and every spoon, and hath not a shirt to his back." — 
Ibid, p. 352. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 429 

certain compliances with the existing government, were 
allowed to regain their estates on paying a composition. 
Both these courses were strenuously reprobated by Hyde ; 
and when urged to allow at least some friend to compound 
for his estates in his behalf, he declared that no necessity 
should induce him to acknowledge a government which, 
in his heart, he considered a usurpation. Through all 
these difficulties, his courage was supported by the forti- 
tude of his wife, who sustained the sad reverse of her for- 
tune with singular magnanimity. She remained in England 
until it was no longer safe : she then retired with her fa- 
mily to Antwerp, and there endeavoured, by the arts of 
frugality, to avoid the sordid aspect of penury. Hyde 
acknowledges that, on this side alone, he trembled for his 
constancy; and that, if his wife had been unequal to her 
distresses, the conflict would have been severe between 
his honour and his softer feelings. He dwells on the 
" unspeakable comfort which he derived from her miracu- 
lous courage;" and declares that it was his chief consola- 
tion amidst all his difficulties.* 

While his own misfortunes were at the height, he con- 
tinually strove to animate the resolution of others : the 
exhortations which he employed gave an exalted idea of 
his virtue and piety. " Keep up your spirits," writes he 
to Secretary Nicholas, " and take heed of sinking under a 
burden, which you never kneeled to take up. Our inno- 
cence begets our cheerfulness, and that again will be a 
means to secure the other. Whoever grows too weary 
and impatient of the condition he is in, will too impatiently 
project to get out of it; and that, by degrees, will shake, 
or baffle, or delude his innocence. We have no reason to 
blush for the poverty which is not brought on us by our 
own faults. As long as it pleases God to give me health, 
(which, I thank him, I have in a good measure,) I shall 
think he intends that I shall outlive all these sufferings ; 
and when he sends sickness, I shall (I hope with the same 
* State Papers, vol. ii., p. 310. 



430 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

submission) believe that he intends to remove me from 
greater calamities."*' 

After residing for some time at Paris in extreme indi- 
gence, Charles at length found that he could not expect 
even an asylum from the French court. It was then 
governed by a calculating Italian, and seemed actuated 
by very selfish motives. Even before Charles quitted 
Jersey, his council was apprized that this ungenerous 
court had planned, in concurrence with the partisans of 
the queen, to render him tributary to France, as the price 
of its aid in his restoration ; and, in particular, to sever 
from England the islands of Jersey and Guernsey.^ The 
increasing power of the revolutionary government rendered 
these designs abortive; yet, during the whole course of 
his exile, Charles received no better indications of friend- 
ship or honour. " The cheats," says Hyde, " and the vil- 
lany of that nation, are so gross, that I cannot think of it 
with patience ; nor will the king ever prosper till he ab- 
hors them perfectly, and trusts none who trusts them."J 
The full establishment of Cromwell's power put an end to 
all disguises : and Mazarine, partly in prosecution of his 
design to humble the Spaniards, partly from a dread of 
the Protector's power, gladly embraced a strict alliance 
with England. From complaisance to his new ally, he 
hastened to withdraw his protection from the exiles ; and 
Charles, with his few adherents, was again compelled to 
wander in quest of an abode. § 

The wars in which the Dutch, and afterwards the 

* State Papers, vol. ii., p. 310. f Ibid, pp. 276, 279. J Ibid, p. 242. 

§ The equipage in which Charles set out from Paris, on this occasion, 
gives a striking idea of the penury to which he was reduced. His coach- 
horses, which still remained to him, he put to a waggon containing his 
bed and clothes. He himself performed the journey on horseback ; nor 
was he owner of a coach for some years afterwards. From this time he 
resided chiefly at Cologne, Brussels, and other towns in the Low Coun- 
tries. At all of them he was obliged to contract debts, and to endure 
the continual importunities of his creditors. He was often forced to put 
off the most necessary journeys, from the want of money to bear his 
travelling expenses. — See Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., p. 411, &c. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 431 

Spaniards, engaged with Cromwell, seemed to offer some 
prospect of relief to the royal cause. But the vigour of 
the Protector was not to be shaken ; and neither of these 
powers showed an inclination to embarrass their negoti- 
ations by conditions for the exiled prince. The enterprises 
of foreign armies, or domestic conspirators, seemed equally 
hopeless during the sway of this energetic usurper ; and 
the termination of his life began to be regarded by the 
royalists as so essential to their cause, that no means ap- 
peared nefarious which could effect that object. It is not 
to be concealed, that even Hyde encouraged the attempts 
of Captain Titus and others to remove Cromwell by assas- 
sination.* To such a degree do men reconcile themselves 
to the worst means, when they are eagerly bent on the 
end, that even this conscientious minister, in his devotion 
to the rights of the king, forgot what was due to the 
rights of human nature. 

The rapid decay of a constitution, exhausted by inces- 
sant fatigue and agitation, unexpectedly accomplished 
what the hand of the assassin had attempted in vain ; and 
the death of Cromwell again awakened all the hopes of 
the royalists. The event, however, was not immediately 
followed by favourable occurrences. The power and title 
of the Protector passed into the hands of his son with the 
same facility as if the inheritance had been a legitimate 
transmission. The court of France testified its sorrow for 
the loss of its ally, by appearing in mourning yf and no 
state which courted the favour, or dreaded the resentment 
of England, delayed to congratulate the new Protector on 
his accession. But the aspect of affairs soon underwent 
a change. The sceptre was easily wrested from the feeble 
hands of Richard Cromwell by ambitious chiefs ; and the 
government was again involved in revolutions, of which 
no one could discover the termination. 

* State Papers, vol. iii., pp. 321, 331, 357, 584. See in Appendix (F.) 
the character of Cromwell by Hyde, 
f Ibid, p. 418. 



432 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

Even in his most desperate fortunes, Hyde looked with 
aversion on the project of reducing his rebellious country- 
men by foreign arms : # and he never failed to cherish a 
hope that Providence, by some unforeseen and extraordi- 
nary means, would finally give a triumph to the righteous 
cause.f That happy event appeared at length to be 
approaching, when men began to look on the restoration 
of the ancient government as the only means of avoiding 
bloodshed and anarchy. 

Nothing could exceed the confusion of political ideas 
which then prevailed in England. The leaders of the 
people had comprehended the tendency of the measures of 
Charles the First, and perceived that unless the privileges 
of parliament were strictly guarded, the liberties of the 
nation were at an end. But when they proceeded to 
renounce monarchy entirely, and to frame a new constitu- 
tion, they showed themselves utterly unacquainted with 
the essential principles of government ; and discovered no 
better security for the freedom of the people, than to sub- 
stitute the tyranny of many for the tyranny of one. The 
parliament, which had now usurped all power, quickly 
found itself at the mercy of the army, and the misguided 
struggles for liberty terminated in the most lawless of all 
dominions, — a military despotism. When the death of 
Cromwell, and the deposition of his son, enabled the active 
spirits to resume the business of framing constitutions, 
they showed that their political sagacity had received little 
improvement. They had very little idea of that distribu- 
tion of power, by which the authority of rulers is rendered 
at once effectual and innoxious ; their crude discussions 
turned on the eligibility of vesting the supreme power in 
one man, in a few, or in the people at large; and men 
seemed ready to lose their lives for the theoretical govern- 
ments, which were either pernicious or impracticable. 

The distraction of political opinions was increased by 
their association with religious chimeras. At the com- 
* State Papers, vol. ii., pp. 307, 329. f Ibid, p. 529. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 433 

mencement of the civil commotions, the controversies 
between the churchmen and the puritan dissenters were of 
little importance : they were confined chiefly to the cere- 
monial of worship ; for the Arminian doctrines, though 
countenanced by the bishops, had by no means been 
adopted into the creed of the church. When the civil dis- 
putes grew high, the decided part which the prelates took 
in support of the court rendered them odious to the advo- 
cates of freedom, and gave popularity to a presbyterian 
form of church-government, where all the ministers of reli- 
gion should be placed on a footing of equality. But the 
presbyterian leaders showed themselves no less attached 
to particular institutions than the followers of episcopacy. 
All the change which they desired was the legal establish- 
ment of their own modes of worship and church-govern- 
ment ; and Whitgift or Laud had not been more decided 
enemies than them to general toleration. In civil affairs, 
they would have been content to restore the king to his 
throne, but under limitations which his episcopal followers 
deemed incompatible with monarchy. Tenets of this nature 
were unacceptable to two very efficient classes in the 
nation ; to those who desired full liberty of conscience, and 
to those who aimed at a total alteration of the constitution. 
A new sect of religionists therefore arose, who proclaimed 
their superior liberality by assuming the name of Inde- 
pendents. Renouncing all church establishments, all 
forms and human creeds, they affected to have no other 
teacher than the Spirit of God. They denied to no one 
that perfect freedom of conscience which they claimed for 
themselves; and the most ignorant mechanics and com- 
mon soldiers, by the force of inspiration, became popular 
teachers of theology. Such were the tenets embraced by 
the army, who first put their king to death as a tyrant, 
and afterwards invested their leader with the power of a 
despot. The political opinions of the independents were 
no less various and incoherent. One party, the levellers, 
aimed at nothing less than to equalize all men in autho- 

2 F 



434 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

rity. A peculiar sect, the fifth-monarchy-men, believed 
that the millennium was at hand ; and that Christ, with 
his saints, (among whom they failed not to include them- 
selves,) was about to assume the government of empires. 
All these extravagancies disgusted the reflecting part of 
the nation, and made them long for the restoration of the 
ancient constitution, however rudely adjusted by time and 
accident. 

A considerable interval, however, was passed in uncer- 
tainty. The Rump Parliament, finding the seat of govern- 
ment unoccupied, resumed its former station; but, on 
growing imperious, was again displaced by the army. A 
grand council of officers now held the supreme direction of 
affairs, but seemed uncertain how to employ their autho- 
rity : the city of London acknowledged only its own ma- 
gistrates ; and the three armies stationed respectively in 
England, Scotland, and Ireland, appeared resolved to 
dispute the sovereignty. Yet, amidst all this confusion, 
the affairs of private life proceeded in their usual channel. 
Men heard of the successive changes as if they were nowise 
concerned ; and the royalists began to apprehend that the 
minds of the people, reconciled by habit to this state of 
things, would cease to desire a more stable government.^ 

The loyalty or the selfishness of an individual first 
opened the way to the restoration. General Monk had 
distinguished himself as an officer in the king's army ; and 
having been taken prisoner by the forces of the parliament, 
was confined in the Tower till the subjugation of the roy- 
alists. At length, the temptation of his liberty, and a 
superior command, induced him to enter into the service of 
Cromwell : and so well did he prove his fidelity to the 
Protector, that he was received into his entire confidence, 
and appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in Scot- 
land. When the remains of the Long Parliament had 
regained their authority, he submitted to it with every 
expression of duty ; and when the army in London, under 
* State Papers, vol. iii., p. 585. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 435 

the command of his rival, Lambert, dissolved that assem- 
bly, he declared loudly against this violence, and marched 
into England to avenge the quarrel. Lambert hastened 
northwards to meet him ; but his army mouldered away 
without a blow, and he was himself compelled to surren- 
der as a prisoner. Monk continued his march towards 
London ; and drew on himself the eyes of all men, as the 
irresistible arbiter of the future government. His beha- 
viour was calculated to cherish hopes in every party. He 
privately listened to the overtures of the king's agents; 
he received, with obliging expressions, the numerous ad- 
dresses for a free parliament,*' which were presented to him 
on his march ; and, in his open declarations, he gave the 
most solemn assurances of fidelity to the existing parlia- 
ment, and of his devoted attachment to republicanism.-}- 
He wished that his right hand might drop off, if it was not 
employed to resist every attempt of the king's partisans ;J 
and, in a letter to Sir Arthur Haslerig, a principal leader 
of the parliament, he renewed his vows in terms which 
could not be distrusted, if any confidence was to be placed 
in protestations : " As for a Commonwealth," said he, 
" believe me, sir, for I speak it in the presence of God, it 
is the desire of my soul ; and shall, the Lord assisting, be 
witnessed by the actions of my life, that these nations be 
so settled in a free state, without a king, single person, or 
house of peers, that they may be governed by their repre- 
sentatives in parliament successively. "§ 

When he appeared before the parliament, his language 
continued to breathe a devoted attachment to them, and 

* The Rump Parliament, for whom Monk now declared, comprehen- 
ded only the members of the Independent party, who had, for some time, 
been allowed to retain their authority after Cromwell had excluded the 
Presbyterians and the rest of the opposition. By the demand for a, free 
parliament, some intended the restoration of these excluded members to 
their seats, and others the election of new representatives. 

t State Papers, vol. iii., pp. 629, 632, 661. + Ibid, p. 703. 

§ Letter from Monk to Haslerig, ibid, p. 678. 

2 f 2 



436 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

bitter invectives against monarchy : # and when they com- 
manded him to march from Westminster into the city, and 
chastise the insolence of the refractory citizens, who ha- 
rassed them with importunities for a free parliament, he 
promptly executed the orders, demolished their gates and 
other defences, committed many to the Tower, and aggra- 
vated his severity by every expression of eontempt.f But 
on the very day that he had reduced the royalists to de- 
spair, by thus enforcing the authority of the parliament, 
he found that this assembly was engaged in private con- 
sultations to deprive him of his power, and to associate 
others with him in the command of the army. On the 
following day, therefore, he wrote a severe letter to the 
house, reproaching them with their misconduct, and requir- 
ing them immediately to summon a free parliament. He 
then marched again into the city ; summoned the mayor, 
aldermen, and common- council to Guildhall; apologized 
for the transactions of the preceding day; assured them 
that he would unite his endeavours to theirs, to procure a 
free parliament, and compose the distractions of the king- 
dom. J These declarations were received by the astonished 
citizens with transport ; and as the former evening had 
closed in consternation and dismal forebodings, the pre- 
sent was prolonged by bonfires and every demonstration 
of joy. By the direction of Monk, the members formerly 
expelled from the house of commons by Cromwell were 
re-admitted to their seats ; and now forming a majority 
in that assembly, proceeded to issue writs for a new par- 
liament, and then voted their own dissolution. The elec- 
tions were carried decidedly in favour of the royalists ; and 
Monk, who had now entered into direct negotiations with 
the king, was no less successful in preparing the army for 
his reception. The first overtures of Charles to the new 
representatives were received with transport, and his re- 
turn demanded with enthusiasm. § Monk and the other 
* State Papers, p. 688. f Hist, of Reb. vol. iii., p. 557- 

$ State Papers, vol. iii., p. 692. § Ibid, p. 736. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 437 

leaders were too intent on atoning for their past offences, 
and in conciliating the favours of their new monarch, to 
embarrass him with any stipulations for the liberties of the 
people ; and Charles ascended the throne of his father, 
without any restriction on those pretensions which had 
caused so many years of confusion and bloodshed. # 

During these transactions, Hyde, who in the meantime 
had been created lord chancellor, was busily employed in 
managing the secret correspondence with the royalists, 
and in directing their private negotiations with Monk and 
the other leaders. When the restoration of the monarchy 

* There are few points in the English history which have heen more 
keenly controverted than the views and character of Monk. The friends 
of royalty have been unwilling to allow that the man, who acted so 
meritorious a part in the restoration of the king, could be stained with 
any vices. It is, however, difficult to reconcile his conduct to any rules 
of morality. The successive transference of his allegiance from the king 
to Cromwell, from the son of Cromwell to the Rump Parliament, and 
again from the Rump Parliament to the king, can be excused by those 
only who look on interest as the standard of truth and honour. If, as some 
allege, he was, in his heart, always loyal to the king, and only waited an 
opportunity to serve him with effect, we free him from the charge of 
unprincipled versatility, by subjecting him to the imputation of gross 
hypocrisy. No prospect of private or public good can excuse wilful and 
deliberate perjury. Clarendon considered him as acting on no settled 
plan ; but thinks that he changed his views as his interest seemed to be 
affected by successive occurrences. During his march to London, the 
chancellor had great distrust of his intentions ; and feared that the 
honours and emoluments showered on him by the parliament would 
" work very far on his ambitious and avaricious nature." — State Papers, 
vol. iii., p. 679. Even in his History of the Rebellion, after he had more 
minutely weighed the transactions of the general, Clarendon seems to 
have entertained an opinion, that, if the parliament had acted with 
proper discretion towards Monk, " they might have found a full conde- 
scension from him, at least no opposition to all their other counsels:" 
and that "the disposition, which finally grew in him towards the royal 
cause, did arise from divers accidents, which fell out in the course of 
affairs, and seemed even to oblige him to undertake that, which in the 
end conduced so much to his greatness and glory." — Hist, of Reb. vol. 
iii., pp. 548, 558. It is certain that Monk could not, without extreme 
hazard, have then attempted to act the part of Cromwell ; and that he 
could not gratify selfish passions so fully by establishing a free republic, 
or a strictly limited monarchy, as by restoring the king without any 
conditions. 



438 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

became no longer doubtful, his great apprehension was, 
that conditions would be imposed on the king: and, in 
that event, he had reason to dread stipulations in favour 
of the presbyterian discipline, to which he felt an uncon- 
querable aversion. He therefore pressed " that all should 
be settled on the old foundation," and the king uncon- 
ditionally restored to his inheritance.* He was, indeed, 
personally interested in preserving the freedom of his 
master ; for he had received information that, if the par- 
liament made conditions with the king, an express stipula- 
tion would be inserted for his exclusion from the royal 
councils. f The arts of his opponents were, however, 
ineffectual : he had his full share in the triumph of his 
cause; and his tried fidelity, and protracted sufferings, 
were rewarded by the station of lord chancellor and prin- 
cipal minister of England. 

If, in the days of poverty and danger, Charles had 
eagerly fled from business and reflection to any pleasure 
which occasion offered, we are not to wonder that he 
willingly delivered himself up to those unbounded festivi- 
ties which now occupied the court and the nation. In these 
festivities, the royalists seemed desirous to forget their 
sufferings, the republicans to bury their demerits. The 
chancellor alone had habits of business and temperance 
too confirmed to be shaken by the surrounding contagion ; 
and it was with general approbation that Charles gave him 
a complete control over public affairs.J The task of re- 
ducing to order the confusion engendered during so many 
years, of undergoing endless importunities for pardon, for 
reward, and for favour, was, indeed, scarcely an object of 
envy. The principal offices of state were distributed 
among persons whom he wholly approved : the Marquis 
of Ormond was created lord steward of the household ; 
Sir Edward Nicholas continued principal secretary of 
state ; and the Earl of Southampton, a man whom kin- 

* State Papers, vol. iii., p. 710. t Ibid, p. 728. 

X Continuation of Clarendon's Life, p. 43. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 439 

dred virtues endeared to the chancellor, was placed at the 
head of the treasury. With these colleagues, Hyde, who 
was soon afterwards known as Earl of Clarendon, main- 
tained the most unreserved and confidential intercourse; 
profiting, on every important occasion, by their advice, 
and supporting his measures by their authority. 

The first and most urgent care of government was, to 
moderate those agitations of hope and fears which, amidst 
the appearance of universal joy, secretly prevailed in the 
bosoms of the people. Those who had been injured in 
their persons, and despoiled of their property, for their 
attachment to the royal cause, now looked for reparation 
and revenge ; while those who had borne an active part 
in the revolution, and shared in its spoils, beheld, with 
terror, the rod of power transferred to their enemies. As 
the first tumults of joy subsided, the animosities of party 
became daily more apparent ; and until some effectual re- 
medy should be applied, it was impossible either to subdue 
the disorder, or to rest in security from new commotions. 
Charles, before returning, had given solemn assurances 
that, with the exception of those who had actually sat in 
judgment on his father, no one should suffer for acts of 
disloyalty. In conformity to this promise, which it was 
equally wise to make, and politic to preserve inviolate, 
Clarendon prepared an act of indemnity and oblivion, 
which, by effacing, with a few exceptions, the transgres- 
sions of former times, should consign to final rest the 
jealousies of the public. In the convention parliament, 
which invited the return of the king, and included a large 
proportion of repentant revolutionists, this act was readily 
passed ; but, in the succeeding parliament, the sanction 
of which was accounted requisite for the validity of all 
acts passed by the convention, the bill of indemnity met 
with strenuous opposition from the numerous royalists 
who were now returned as representatives. The influence 
of Clarendon and the other ministers seemed scarcely suf- 
ficient to overpower the refractory humour of the two 
houses ; and it was not until after the repeated and per- 



440 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

sonal instances of the king, who saw that he could expect 
neither ease nor security if the royalists were let loose 
on their former enemies, that the act was at length reluc- 
tantly passed.* 

The salutary effects of this measure were evinced by 
the evils resulting from even the few exceptions that were 
made. The judges of the king ascended the scaffold with 
the same intrepidity as their royal victim ; and their last 
words were employed in exhorting the people not to des- 
pair of a cause for which they gloried to perish. Such 
scenes never fail to make a deep impression on the multi- 
tude, who are not aware how usual it is for men to 
encounter death with resolution amidst a crowd of admir- 
ing spectators. The death both of the king and of the 
regicides, by attracting general sympathy and admiration, 
alternately procured many proselytes to their respective 
causes. A still worse effect was produced on the minds 
of the people by the execution of Sir Harry Vane, who, 
far from being one of the king's judges, had openly 
disapproved his condemnation ; and whose death was the 
consequence partly of imprudent language, partly of the 
hatred of the royalists, for his share in the attainder of 
Strafford. On the approach of his fate, Vane seemed to 
triumph over all fears, from a confidence in the justice of 
his cause. To prevent the effects of his dying eloquence, 
which his opponents exceedingly apprehended, drummers 
were stationed around the scaffold ; who, with their 
instruments, drowned his voice, as soon as he began to 
address the people. Vane, nowise disconcerted, desired 
they might be stopped while he performed his devotions ; 
and when they renewed their noise, he laid his head on 
the scaffold with a silent composure, which spoke more 
forcibly to the hearts of the people than the most elo- 
quent oration.f 

* Continuation, p. 133. Burnet's History of his own Times, vol. i., 
p. 240. 

f Burnet, vol. L, p. 238. See in Appendix (F.) some observations by 
Clarendon on the character of Sir Harry Vane. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 441 

The protecting part of the act of indemnity gave rise to 
the most importunate clamours among the royalists. They 
had formed expectations as unbounded, as if the king had 
been restored to his throne by the force of their arms ; and 
anticipated, in a plenteous harvest of forfeitures, an ample 
compensation for all their losses and sufferings. When 
these hopes were finally disappointed by the act of in- 
demnity, they broke forth into bitter invectives against its 
principal promoter. Clarendon did not shrink from their 
reproaches; but fairly acknowledged that the measure, 
with all its demerits, was his. He reminded them that 
acts or promises of indemnity ought to be held sacred ; 
that fidelity in the observation of them was the only foun- 
dation on which any government could hope to tranquillize 
civil commotions ; and that, if the people once thought 
these promises were made to deceive, all confidence be- 
tween them and their sovereign would be at an end. " It 
was," he added, " the making these promises which had 
brought the king home : and it was the keeping them 
which [must keep him there." The angry royalists were 
not to be appeased by such arguments. The king, they 
said, had in truth passed an act of oblivion and of indem- 
nity ; of oblivion to his friends, and of indemnity to his 
enemies.* 

It was from no deficient compassion to the unfortunate 
royalists that Clarendon resisted their remonstrances. 
Willingly would he have given them relief by any expe- 
dient which did not endanger the renewal of civil convul- 
sions ; and such an expedient he was hopeful of having 
discovered, previous to the restoration. It was concerted 
between him and the king, that the principal offices of the 
state should be bestowed on the most able and meritorious 
servants ; but with the express provision, that his majesty 
should retain the right of nominating their subordinate 
officers. By this means, Clarendon calculated that the 
king would be enabled to make a competent provision for 
* Burnet, vol. i., p. 240. 



442 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

the most deserving royalists, without either infringing his 
promises of indemnity, or unprofitably wasting the public 
treasure. But this well-devised scheme became wholly 
abortive. Monk, now created Duke of Albemarle, was 
allowed, in consideration of his great services, to engross 
several posts of extensive patronage ; and it was not advis- 
able to disgust him by interfering with the disposal of his 
subordinate offices. These, to the great scandal of the 
public, he sold to the highest bidder ; # and the unfortu- 
nate royalists, who had nothing left to bribe his avarice, 
were obliged to give place to men who had grown rich by 
the spoils of their country. The privilege which had been 
granted to Albemarle could not, with decency, be refused 
to other ministers • and patronage was thus left to flow 
unobstructed in its ancient channel. The impatience of 
the royalists had also given to Charles some disgusts, 
which rendered him much less solicitous about their in- 
terests. A few hours after he landed in Kent, he found 
himself beset by a crowd of these men ; who, to seize the 
first opportunity, compelled him to give them audience, 
recounted their sufferings and losses, and entreated, as 
a compensation, the immediate grant of some offices on 
which they had fixed their eyes.f The prejudice excited 
by these unseasonable importunities was strengthened, 
when he found his patronage so circumscribed, that he 
could gratify them only from the money destined for his 

* Continuation, p. 46. Clarendon informs us, that Monk himself, out 
of a deference to the king, would have admitted to his subordinate offices 
some of those persons who had actually received the royal promise : but 
that his wife, who even exceeded him in avarice, would hear of no con- 
sideration but money. Monk, indeed, appears to have yielded this point 
to his wife with little reluctance, for Clarendon assures us that, whatever 
other arguments might have been used, " profit was always the highest 
reason with him." — Ibid, p. 126. Had Monk bestowed his patronage 
from more honourable motives, we have reason to suspect his discernment 
would not have led him to any very proper choice. It was, on one occa- 
sion, represented to him that a person whom he had recommended for a 
secretary of state was not fit for that function. "Not fit !" replied Monk ; 
" why he can speak French, and write short-hand 1" 

t Continuation, p. 8. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 443 

darling pleasures. Too many of the unfortunate royalists 
had contracted habits of intoxication, which rendered them 
unfit for any active employment ; nor had either the remem- 
brance of their sufferings, or the joy of the restoration, 
mitigated the mutual animosities which had embittered 
their adversity. Every one was more deeply wounded to 
see another gratified, than himself disappointed. Charles, 
equally disgusted with their importunities and their quar- 
rels, sought a refuge from these, as well from all other 
cares, amidst the festive riots of his court.* 

Next to the act of indemnity, the most important object 
was the establishment of a revenue for the crown. On 
this occasion, the parliament displayed a liberality conso- 
nant to the j oyful feelings of the nation ; yet adopted some 
salutary provisions in regulating the public expenditure. 
They provided for the discharge of the national debts ; 
and, to prevent the sums voted from being diverted to 
other purposes, they appointed persons accountable to 
themselves to watch over the receipt and disbursement.f 
They voted to the king a permanent annual revenue of 
twelve hundred thousand pounds, a sum greatly exceed- 
ing the allowance to any of his ancestors : but, by allow- 
ing his private appointments to remain confounded with 
the funds of the public, they left an opening to abuses 
and jealousies, which were afterwards attended with very 
pernicious effects. The clergy, who had hitherto always 
taxed themselves in convocation, and had been induced, 
by their closer connexion with the crown, to give higher 
contributions than the laity, now voluntarily relinquished 
this unprofitable privilege, and submitted to the general 
taxation imposed by parliament. From that period, the 
convocation, being no longer subservient to the views of 
government, ceased to be regularly assembled, and has at 
last fallen into total neglect. 

In the decision of questions where the interests of the 
king and the people interfered, it seems to have been the 
* Continuation, pp. 35, 37, 39. f Ibid, p. 138. 



444 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

uniform aim of Clarendon to bring things back, as nearly 
as possible, to their situation before the commencement 
of the civil commotions. # He was unwilling to see the 
people deprived of any privileges which they had then 
enjoyed ; but, from a review of late events, he considered 
the prerogative as more in danger than the liberties of the 
subj ect. He procured the restoration of the militia to the 
crown ; and the repeal of that act which entitled the repre- 
sentatives of the people to assemble of themselves, at the 
expiration of three years, if the king did not in that period 
summon them to parliament. This act Clarendon brands 
as infamous, and inconsistent with all government ;f yet 
those who lived to the end of the reign of Charles II., 
had often to lament the want of effectual means to secure 
the frequent assembling of the legislature. 

In some points of administration, the chancellor seems 
to have been disposed to wield the rod of power with too 
high a hand. The excessive dissipation into which the court 
speedily fell, became the general theme of public conver- 
sation ; and, in the taverns and coffee-houses, to which in 
that age persons of both sexes daily crowded, the ex- 
ample of the king and courtiers was usually urged as an 
apology for gross irregularities. Charles could ill bear 
that royal trespasses should be the usual topic in the 
mouths of the multitude, and applied to the chancellor 
to devise some remedy for this growing evil. Clarendon 
admitted that it ought to be repressed ; but, instead of 
assuring him that the reformation of his conduct was the 
only effectual means of stopping the evil tongues of men, 

* He tells us, " he did never dissemble from the time of his return with 
the king, whom he had likewise prepared and disposed to the same senti- 
ments whilst his majesty was abroad, that the late rebellion could never 
be extirpated and pulled up by the roots, till the king's regal and inherent 
power and prerogative should be fully avowed, and vindicated ; and till 
the usurpations in both houses of parliament, since the year 1640, were 
disclaimed and made odious ; and many other excesses, which had been 
affected by both, before that time, under the name of privileges, should 
be restrained or explained." — Continuation, p. 727. 

■f- Continuation, p. 420. 



EARL OF CLARENDON, 445 

he complaisantly proposed two expedients ; " either a pro- 
clamation to forbid all persons to resort to those houses, 
and so totally to suppress them ; or the employment of 
spies, who, being present in the conversation, might be 
ready to charge and accuse the persons who had talked 
with most licence on a subject that would bear com- 
plaint. " The king was pleased with both expedients ; 
but, on being debated in the privy council, the project of 
espionnage was abandoned, on the ground that it would 
diminish the revenue arising from coffee !* 

The most unwise part of Clarendon's counsels, was that 
which regarded the government of Scotland. Cromwell, 
after reducing the Scots under the strictest military des- 
potism, had established numerous forts and garrisons, 
which rendered the recovery of their freedom wholly hope- 
less. Clarendon, who thought that the Scots and their 
covenant could not be too closely watched, was of opinion 
that this system of military coercion should be continued, 
and Scotland treated as a conquered nation. This ruinous 
policy, which would have quickly reduced Scotland to a 
situation not less calamitous than that of Ireland, was 
successfully resisted.f 

The system pursued by Clarendon, in regulating the na- 
tional judicature, deserves the highest praise. He showed 
his love of liberty by making no attempt to revive the 
courts of the Star-chamber and high commission, which 
had been, however unjustly, regarded as main props of 
the sovereign power ; and which the complaisant parlia- 
ment would probably not have scrupled to re-establish. 
He filled every department of the judicial functions 
with men of known attachment to the government, yet 
of acknowledged morality and talents. Some grave and 
learned judges, who had sat on the bench in the time of 
Cromwell, were again raised to the same situation ; and 
among these the name of Sir Matthew Hale has ob- 

* Continuation, pp. C78, 679. 

t Ibid, p. 409. Burnet, vol. i., p. 151. 



446 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

tained particular celebrity.* We readily enter into the 
triumph which Clarendon expresses at having restored to 
the nation the blessings of a regular judicature. " Denied 
it cannot be/' says he, " that there appeared, sooner than 
was thought possible, a general settlement in the civil 
justice of the kingdom : no man complained without re- 
medy ; and every man dwelt again under the shadow of 
his own vine, without any complaint of injustice and 
oppression, "f He set an eminent example of diligence 
and integrity in his own judicial conduct; and it is allowed 
by all, that the office of lord chancellor was never more 
uprightly administered. 

Fortunate had it been for the memory of Clarendon, if 
the same good sense and benevolence, which guided his 
civil policy, had governed his religious opinions. But, in 
these, prejudice triumphed over his better judgment; and 
we find him breathing sentiments, which, in a darker age, 
would have led him to promote the most cruel persecution. 
From his early youth he had imbibed the maxim of no 
bishop, no king, as an infallible truth ; and had conscien- 
tiously instilled into the mind of his sovereign the doctrine, 
that episcopacy is the only form of church-government 
compatible with monarchy. In defence of this favourite 
tenet, he had entered into acrimonious contests with the 
dissenters ; and as he knew that he had incurred their last- 
ing hatred, by prepossessing both Charles and his father 
against them, he repaid their animosity by an equally keen 
aversion. Their desire to prevent him from sharing in the 
triumph of the Restoration, gave a new edge to his angry 
feelings ; and, in his memoirs of these times, whenever he 
has occasion to mention them, he is unable to conceal the 
antipathy that rankled in his breast. J 

* Burnet, vol. i., p. 254. f Continuation, p. 48. 

X His prejudices always discover themselves in bitter invectives ; and, 
when he finds an example of unprincipled conduct in individuals of the 
hated sect, he hastens to draw a general conclusion from it with regard 
to the spirit of the whole body. In one passage he adduces two instances 
of chicane in presbyterian ministers ; " by which," he adds, " if the hu- 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 447 

The most wise and moderate of the ministers, and among 
others the Earl of Southampton, were of opinion that no- 
thing could conduce so much to public tranquillity, as to 
follow up the act of indemnity with an act of toleration. 
As the Presbyterians differed nothing in doctrine from the 
church of England, and were equally the friends of a regu- 
lar ecclesiastical establishment, they might, it was sup- 
posed, be reconciled to episcopacy by some partial conces- 
sions in respect to forms ; and the two predominant bodies 
of religionists be thus united in support of the govern- 
ment. But to all these lenient propositions Clarendon 
declared his decided opposition.* He asserted that no- 
thing was to be expected from acts of conciliation ; that 
concession would only render the sectaries more presump- 
tuous and insolent in their demands ; and that no means 

mour and spirit of the Presbyterians were not enough discovered and 
known, their want of ingenuity and integrity would be manifest, and how 
impossible it is for men who would not be deceived to depend on either." 
Continuation, p. 341. 

* Burnet imagines that Clarendon was originally friendly to the con- 
ciliatory system ; but that, in consequence of some private obligations 
received from the bishops, he went over to their violent measures ; and, 
by this versatility, disgusted his friend Southampton. But the state- 
ments, as well as the strain of sentiments, in Clarendon's later writings, 
are so irreconcilable to this account, that there seems very little doubt 
that the bishop was misinformed. In the Continuation of his Life, Cla- 
rendon thus enlarges on this subject: — " It is an unhappy policy, and 
always unhappily applied, to imagine that that class of men (the dissen- 
ters) can be recovered and reconciled by partial concessions, or granting 
less than they demand. And if all were granted, they would have more 
to ask, somewhat as a security for the enjoyment of what is granted, that 
shall preserve their power, and shake the whole frame of the government. 
Their faction is their religion : nor are those combinations ever entered 
into upon zeal and substantial motives of conscience, how erroneous 
soever; but consist of many glutinous materials of will, and humour, and 
folly, and knavery, and ambition, and malice, which make men cling in- 
separably together, till they have satisfaction in all their pretences, or 
till they are absolutely bioken and subdued, which may always be more 
easily done than the other. And if some few, how signal soever, (which 
often deceives us,) are separated and divided from the herd upon reason- 
able overtures, and secret rewards which make the overtures look the 
more reasonable, they are but so many single men, and have no more 



448 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

could improve either their faith or their loyalty, but a sys- 
tem of rigorous and active coercion.* 

These opinions of the chancellor, seconded by a parlia- 
ment devoted to the king and to episcopacy, became the 
standard for adjusting the religious disputes of the nation. 
The church of England was restored to the model of the 
days of Queen Elizabeth,- the ring, the cross, the sur- 
plice, the altar, again became stumbling-blocks to weak 
consciences ; an act of uniformity was passed, which com- 
pelled all the clergy to express, by an oath, their attach- 
ment to the revived ceremonies ; and the ensuing day of 
St. Bartholomew was appointed as the term at which they 
must either conform to this condition, or abandon their 
livings. This oath, that it might be a test of loyalty as 
well as of religion, contained a clause by which the clergy 
were to subscribe io the doctrine of passive obedience in its 
fullest extent; and to declare their conviction, that no 
oppression and cruelty on the part of the sovereign could 
justify his subjects in taking arms against his authority. 
A doctrine so revolting to common sense, disgusted many 
even of the royalists. The virtuous Earl of Southampton, 
though the strenuous friend of Clarendon, openly dissented 
from him on this occasion; and declared, that if such an 
oath were to be imposed on the laity, he would himself 
refuse it.f Nor had the clergy lost the spirit of civil and 
religious freedom. On the decisive day of St. Bartholo- 
mew, two thousand of them quitted their benefices ; and 
preferred poverty to affluence, when purchased by an oath 
which they accounted infamous. The clergymen, who had 
been deprived of their livings by the revolutionary govern- 

credit and authority (whatever they have had) with their companions, 
than if they had never known them ; rather less. Being less mad than 
they were, makes them thought to be less fit to be believed. And they, 
whom you think you have recovered, carry always a chagrin about them, 
which makes them good for nothing, but for instances to divert you from 
any more of that kind of traffic." 

* " Nothing," says he, " but a severe execution of the law can ever 
prevail upon that class of men to conform to government." — Contin. p. 143. 

f Burnet, vol. i., p. 329. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 449 

ment, had still been allowed a portion of their former 
revenues for their maintenance ; but those now ejected 
were denied the most slender provision. Nor was this all : 
by a subsequent ordinance, conventicles were suppressed, 
and the dismissed clergy were prohibited from earning a 
scanty livelihood by the exercise of their profession.* 
The provisions of the five-mile-act were still more cruel. 
By its regulations, no dissenting teacher, who had not 
taken the oath of passive obedience, was allowed, except 
in travelling the road, to approach nearer than five miles 
to any place where he had preached since the act of indem- 
nity ; and thus these indigent men were compelled to wan- 
der among strangers, deprived of that relief which their 
former friends and acquaintance might have administered 
to their distresses. y 

* The act against conventicles is applauded by Clarendon as a measure 
of peculiar efficacy. " If it had been vigorously executed," says he, " it 
would no doubt have produced a thorough reformation."— Continuation, 
p. 421. So apt are even wise men, where their prejudices are concerned, 
to form conclusions in opposition to the most universal experience ! The 
rigours of this act were extreme. Justices of the peace were allowed to 
convict offenders without a jury. Any meeting for religious worship, at 
which five were present more than the family, was declared a conventicle. 
Every person above sixteen that attended it, was to be imprisoned three 
months, or to pay hi. for the first offence ; for the second offence, to be 
imprisoned six months, or pay 20/. ; and for the third offence, on convic- 
tion by a jury, to be banished to the plantations, or pay 100/. 

f Burnet, vol. i., p. 328. This act was strongly opposed by the Earl of 
Southampton, and by Dr. Earl, bishop of Salisbury, the most esteemed 
of the prelates. The favour which the ejected clergy obtained among 
the people, by their conscientious firmness and their sufferings, was 
much increased by the avarice of some of the bishops, who, as Clarendon 
himself informs us, prosecuted their claims for arrears with an eagerness 
and severity, which respected neither the loyalty, the sufferings, nor the 
poverty of their debtors — Continuation, p. 185. Yet Clarendon had 
endeavoured to select prelates distinguished for learning and zeal ; 
though, indeed, he was sometimes obliged to yield to other considera- 
tions. Among the most importunate claimants, who demanded patronage 
as their due, was Dr. Gauden, the author of the Eikon Basilike, which 
loyal credulity so long attributed to the pen of Charles I. Gauden did 
not possess loyalty enough to bury his share of the transaction in oblivion, 
or to forego so fair a claim to royal patronage. He whispered his great 

2 G 



450 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

While the unfortunate prejudices of Clarendon contri- 
buted to renew the distractions of England, they proved 
still more prejudicial to the tranquillity of Scotland. As 
the support of episcopacy was found to be a sure road to 
favour at court, there was not wanting a numerous body 
of Scottish lords and gentlemen, who asserted that their 
countrymen had become disgusted with presbytery ; and 
that the re-establishment of episcopacy there, would not 
only be easy, but infinitely gratifying to the majority of 
the nation. In this welcome opinion Clarendon had been 
confirmed by the arts of Dr. Sharpe ; who, by solemn pro- 
testations of his inviolable devotion to presbytery, had 
gained the confidence of his brethren, and was deputed to 
advocate their cause at court ; after which he availed him- 
self of this commission to accelerate the introduction of 
episcopacy, and to procure for himself the primacy of 
Scotland. The policy adopted in consequence of these 

arcanum, as he calls it, into the unwilling ears of the king and his princi- 
pal courtiers ; and, having produced witnesses of the fact, made no scru- 
ple of importunately demanding a reward equal to his merits. In one of 
his letters to Clarendon, he refreshes his memory by the following narra- 
tive of this transaction. After stating that his services had been too 
much overlooked in regard to that work which " goes under the late 
blessed king's name, the Eucajv, or Portraiture of his Majesty in his Soli- 
tude and Sufferings," he proceeds : " This book and figure was wholly and 
only my invention, making, and design, in order to vindicate the king's 
wisdom, honour, and piety. My wife, indeed, was conscious to it, and 
had a hand in disguising the letters of that copy which I sent to the king 
in the Isle of Wight, by the favour of the late Marquis of Hertford, 
which was delivered to the king by the now bishop of Winchester. His 
majesty graciously accepted, owned, and adopted it as his sense and ge- 
nius ; not only with great approbation, but admiration. He kept it with 
him; and though his cruel murderers went on to perfect his martyrdom, 
yet God preserved and prospered this book to revive his honour, and re- 
deem his majesty's name from that grave of contempt and abhorrence, or 
infamy, in which they aimed to bury him. When it came out, just upon 
the king's death — good God ! what shame, rage, and despite filled his 
murderers ! what comfort his friends ! How many enemies did it con- 
vert ? how many hearts did it mollify and melt ! What devotions it 
raised to his posterity, as children of such a father ! What preparations 
it made in all men's minds for this happy restoration, and which, I hope, 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 451 

misrepresentations, soon involved Scotland in all its former 
distractions. Episcopacy was established ; religious opi- 
nions enforced by the sword of the civil magistrate ; and 
disorders engendered which could be subdued only by the 
dangerous remedy of a new revolution. 

But while we lament the prejudiced views of Clarendon 
in religious matters, we must not forget the merits of his 
civil policy. If we consider the difficulties of that period 
of confusion and animosity, we must applaud the dexterity 
with which he overcame them. If we compare the course 
of government while he directed our councils, with that of 
the latter years of the same reign, we must admire both 
his patriotism and virtue. His political sagacity, particu- 
larly in regard to commerce and foreign connexions, may 
claim little commendation; but it has not been denied 
that he uniformly aimed at ends which his conscience ap- 
proved. We discover no instance in which his authority 
was employed for selfish purposes. Though his original 

shall not prove my affliction ! In a word, it was an army, and did van- 
quish more than any sword could. My lord, every good subject conceived 
hopes of restoration, — meditated revenge and reparation. Your lordship 
and all good subjects, with his majesty, enjoy the real and now ripe fruits 
of that plant : O let not me wither ! who was the author, and ventured 
wife, children, estate, liberty, life, and all but my soul, in so great an 
achievement, which hath filled England, and all the world, with the 
glory of it. I did lately present my faith in it to the Duke of York, and 
by him to the king : both of them were pleased to give me credit, and own 
it a rare service in the horrors of those times. True, I played this best 
card in my hand something too late ; else I might have sped as well as 
Dr. Reynolds, and some others ; but I did not lay it as a ground of ambi- 
tion, nor use it as a ladder." A ladder, however, it proved, both secure 
and lofty : for although Gauden was abundantly obnoxious both to the 
chancellor and the bishops, from having taken the covenant, yet neither 
were his claims to be denied, nor his importunities resisted. He was 
successively created bishop of Exeter and of Worcester. His letters of 
solicitation to Clarendon and others, in which he descants at large on the 
transcendent merits of his arcanum, are preserved in the Supplement to 
Clarendon's State Papers. They were published for the first time in the 
year 1786; and it is owing to the want of this decisive evidence, that 
Hume and many other authors are inclined to give Charles the merit of 
writing the Eikon. 

2 g 2 



452 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

fortune was small, and had been wasted during the civil 
commotions, he adopted no means to repair it, beyond the 
regular emoluments of his office as chancellor. Both the 
king, and his colleagues in the ministry, sensible of the 
inadequacy of his fortune, endeavoured to force on his ac- 
ceptance various grants of money and land ; but, in that 
period of solicitation and expectancy, he thought he should 
best escape envy by setting an example of that disinterest- 
edness which he inculcated on others. It was only in 
some peculiar circumstances that he was induced to depart 
from this resolution. The Duke of Ormond, and some 
other of his most valued friends in the ministry, perceiving 
the incessant fatigue which he underwent, would have 
persuaded him to relinquish his judicial office of chancel- 
lor, and devote himself entirely to affairs of state, under 
the appellation of prime minister. But Clarendon decided 
on declining a distinction so invidious, and recognised only 
in the unlimited government of France. He also knew 
that Charles, although extremely willing to purchase lei- 
sure for his pleasures, by consigning his whole government 
into the hands of his servants, was of all men most averse 
to be thought subject to the guidance of a favourite; and 
would speedily be disgusted with those remonstrances 
from a prime minister, which he easily endured from his 
chancellor. # 

From the commencement of his ministry, Clarendon 
perceived that, however cautious his conduct, his exaltation 
would attract around him a cloud of envy. But his per- 
sonal attachment to his sovereign was too great to make 
him shrink from the most obnoxious interference, when 
conducive to the interests of Charles. With the exception 
of a few favourites, whom he determined to gratify, the 
king uniformly referred the crowds of importunate suitors 
to the chancellor, who made no scruple to undertake the 
invidious part of rejecting all unreasonable requests. Even 
when Charles disposed of offices contrary to his advice, 
* Continuation, p 85. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 453 

Clarendon still justified the conduct of his prince; and 
thus often innocently incurred the odium of an improper 
distribution of patronage.* This uncommon devotion the 
king for some time repaid with the most obliging atten- 
tions. He listened to the chancellor's advice on every 
occasion, and seemed happy when he could prevail on 
him to accept any testimony of his esteem. When Claren- 
don was afflicted with the gout, which frequently hap- 
pened, Charles always repaired to his house to consult on 
public affairs ; and occasionally summoned the privy 
council to attend in the minister's bed-chamber.f 

Yet, amidst all these marks of favour, there were cir- 
cumstances in the conduct of the king, which must have 
given uneasy presages to the chancellor. Charles was a 
decided sceptic in regard to human virtue. He believed 
that, if either man or woman practised sincerity or chastity, 
it was merely to save appearances, and gratify their vanity. 
No one, he thought, served him from attachment ; and he 
viewed all around him with indifference as the selfish in- 
struments of his ease and pleasures. J On a mind so pre- 
possessed against the better sentiments of the heart, the 
disinterested zeal of Clarendon could make but a faint 
impression. When the chancellor refused the gifts of the 
king, as beyond his deserts, and tending to excite general 
envy against him, Charles was accustomed to remind him 
with a smile, that it is better to be envied than pitied.^ 
The French government, desirous to gain the good will of 
the English minister, instructed its agent to present him 
secretly with a large sum of money, which was to be con- 
tinued as a yearly pension. Clarendon heard this propo- 
sition with indignation ; but when he informed Charles of 
the insult which had been offered to him, the king laughed 

* Burnet, vol. i., p. 133. 

f The meetings of the Secret Committee, consisting of Clarendon, and 
some of his colleagues in whom he most confided, were usually held at 
Worcester-House, then the residence of the chancellor ; and were gene- 
rally attended by the king and the Duke of York. 

J Burnet, vol. i., p. 131. § Continuation, p. 83. 



454 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

in his face, and told him he was a fool.* Even the kindest 
acts of Charles must have lost much of their grace, when 
the minister felt that they proceeded, not from attachment, 
but from a mere aversion to labour, f And he had but 
too ample proof of the precarious tenure of a prince's fa- 
vour, when a train of events, which shall now be explained, 
rendered his disgrace more convenient to the sovereign 
than his exaltation. 

While Clarendon attended his exiled master, his daugh- 
ter had been received as a maid of honour into the family 
of the Princess of Orange, formerly Princess Royal of 
England ; and had there embellished the natural charms 
of her person and wit, by the most admired accomplish- 
ments of a court. She had followed her father to Eng- 
land, and taken a conspicuous part in the festivities of the 
Restoration ; but the general attention which her attrac- 
tions excited was converted into astonishment, when she 
was discovered to be pregnant, and declared the Duke of 
York to be her husband, and the father of her child. On 
this unexpected event, the court was immediately rent 
into violent factions. The queen-dowager hastened from 
France, to prevent her son from acknowledging a mar- 
riage, which, in her eyes, would fix an indelible stain on 
her lineage; and the duke himself was for some time 
moved by the calumnies which were assiduously propaga- 
ted against the object of his affections. But the king, 
who still entertained a just value for the services of his 
chancellor, declared that, as the marriage was found on 
examination to be valid, he would on no account consent 
to its disavowal. At length, all opposition ceased; the 
duke, discovering the falsehood of his suspicions, acknow- 
ledged his wife ; and the dowager-queen received the 
duchess as her daughter. % 

* Continuation, p. 175. f Ibid, p. 88. 

X Continuation, pp. 50—75. The change in the queen's behaviour, 
which was sudden and unexpected, was afterwards discovered, to the 
astonishment of Clarendon, to have proceeded from the interference of 
his old enemy, Cardinal Mazarine. Her majesty, finding that she could 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 455 

The behaviour of Clarendon during this embarrassing 
transaction, was conspicuous for propriety. He solemnly 
declared that the whole transaction was as new to him as 
to the rest of the nation. He refused to take any steps 
towards vindicating the honour of a daughter, who, un- 
known to him, had wilfully subjected her family to danger 
and disgrace ; and amidst the ferment of the court, he 
appeared the only man who was not concerned in the 
event. He w T ould address no solicitations either to the 
queen or the Duke of York ; and when both of them 
began to give indications of a favourable disposition, he 
refused to make the first advances. He even went so far 
as, in his official capacity, to advise the king that the 
marriage should be disavowed, or the presumption of his 
daughter subjected to the penalties of treason.^ Though 
we may distrust the sincerity of self-denial carried so far, 
it is apparent that he derived more apprehension than 
satisfaction from the unusual exaltation of his family. 
Observing his son elevated with the royal affinity, he 
sadly assured him that it would sooner or later prove the 
ruin of them all : and such, even then, were the hopes 
formed by his enemies. For the present, however, neither 
envy nor censure seemed to be excited. The people were 
pleased to find that a wise and loyal minister was not to 

not prevent the marriage from being openly acknowledged, was preparing 
in the height of her displeasure, to quit the English court, and return to 
France. But the cardinal, whose policy led him to cultivate the friendship 
of every successive government of England, was by no means inclined to 
quarrel with the young king, or his favourite minister ; and therefore 
wrote to the dowager-queen, very plainly intimating, that, if she left her 
sons in displeasure, she would meet with no good Avelcome in France. 
The hint produced the intended effect. Her majesty quickly received 
the duchess as her daughter ; and was reconciled to the chancellor with 
many gracious expressions of friendship. In closing the relation of this 
incident, Clarendon strongly characterizes the insincere and vindictive 
temper of this princess. " From that period," says he, " there did never 
appear any want of kindness in the queen towards me, whilst I stood in 
no need of it, nor until it might have done me good." — Continuation, 
p. 75. 

* Continuation, p. 55. 



456 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

be dishonoured in his family, from an adherence to rules 
which had formerly been thought unnecessary in England. 
Charles behaved to him with all that gracious demeanour 
in which he knew how to excel. Without the chancellor's 
privity, he caused a patent for a peerage to be made 
out for him, accompanied by a grant of twenty thousand 
pounds, to support the title: and the minister accepted 
these proofs of royal favour with a satisfaction, that could 
be imparted only by his escape from a situation of great 
embarrassment* 

The chancellor had, about this time a considerable 
share in negotiating the marriage of the king. The peo- 
ple, who looked on the popish religion with dread and 
abhorrence, would have rejoiced to see their monarch 
united to a Protestant princess ; but Charles was very 
indifferent about religion, and looked merely to the splen- 
dour of the alliance. He therefore willingly listened to 
the overtures of the Portuguese ambassador, who proffered 
the daughter of his sovereign, with a tempting dowry, — 
five hundred thousand pounds in money, several commer- 
cial advantages, the town of Tangiers on the coast of 
Africa, and the settlement of Bombay, in the East Indies. 
As the princess was reported to be of a mild and discreet 
temper, and Portugal was much less disliked than France 
or Spain, the choice was applauded by the ministers, the 
parliament, and the nation : and the same sentiments were 
expressed by Clarendon, who saw no reason to oppose the 
union, and who, of all men in the kingdom, could with 
least grace have opposed it, after the marriage of his own 
daughter to the heir-apparent of the crown. While this 
negotiation was pending, the ambassador of Spain, whose 
court had not yet acknowledged the independence of 

* He was, on this occasion, created a baron, a title which he had often 
declined, as inconsistent with his limited fortune. He afterwards irri- 
tated the Duke of York by refusing the order of the Garter : and it was 
only from an unwillingness to disoblige his royal highness, who re- 
proached him as too proud to receive any favour through his means, that 
he was at length prevailed on to accept an earldom. — Continuation, p. 82. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 457 

Portugal, employed every art to frustrate the alliance ; and 
procured some partisans in the English court to second 
his designs. Reports were spread that the princess was 
deformed ; that she had various inherent distempers ; that, 
from some natural defect, she was incapable of bearing 
children. Offers were made to the king, on the part of 
Spain, of a large dowry with any bride whom he should 
select from among the princesses of Italy; and the Earl 
of Bristol, who possessed a peculiar talent in that way, 
was employed to inflame his fancy with the description of 
their luxurious conversations. By these arts Charles was 
almost diverted from the Portuguese alliance : but, on 
detecting the malice of the Spaniards, and on perceiving, 
from the representations of Clarendon and the other mi- 
nisters, that it would be both foolish and dishonourable, 
on such vain grounds, to break off a negotiation so nearly 
concluded, he proceeded in the transaction with his origi- 
nal cordiality. On the arrival of his bride, he found no 
reason for dissatisfaction either in her manners or her 
person.* 

But Charles had already drunk deep of vices incompat- 
ible with conjugal felicity. Amidst his numerous favour- 

* Some historians, Mr. Hume in particular, as if to excuse the subse- 
quent conduct of Charles, allege that the queen was homely, if not dis- 
gusting, in her person, and that the king thought so from the first. But 
there is the strongest evidence that this was not the case. Clarendon, 
who had an opportunity of knowing better than any writer, expressly 
says, " the queen had beauty and wit enough to make herself very 
agreeable to his majesty ; and it is very certain, that, at their first meet- 
ing, and for some time after, the king had very good satisfaction in her." 
Continuation, p. 318. Lord Sandwich, the ambassador who brought her 
over, expatiates, in his letters, on the " most lovely and agreeable person 
of the queen." — Supplement to State Papers, p. 20. The Earl of Port- 
land, who attended the king at his marriage, writes to Clarendon, that his 
majesty, as soon as he saw the princess, was so well pleased with her, as 
readily to give way to some perplexing prejudices which she had in 
regard to the marriage ceremony. — Ibid, p. 21. Bishop Burnet assures 
us, " he saw the letter which the king writ to the Earl of Clarendon the 
day after the marriage, by which it appeared very plainly, that the king 
was well pleased with her." — Burnet, vol. i. , p. 253. 



458 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

ites, he had been particularly captivated by the charms of 
Mrs. Palmer, a lady of the race of Villiers, who was not 
more distinguished for her beauty, than for the want of 
every virtue. Her undisguised amours with Charles had 
procured her the appellation of the royal mistress ; and a 
son, whom she bore during the negotiations with Portugal, 
was openly acknowledged by the king as his own. When 
his young queen came over, Charles had formed some 
transient resolutions to estrange himself from his mistress ; 
but, by the arts of the lady, and of the courtiers who 
depended on her favour, these impressions were speedily 
effaced from his mind. He had formed his notions of 
royal gallantry in the voluptuous court of France. He 
thought that a father or a husband ought to account his 
daughter or his wife, not degraded, but honoured by the 
embraces of his sovereign ; and that the mistress of a 
prince ought to be regarded in a very different light from 
other concubines. In the same school he had learnt, that 
the wife of a king ought to divest herself of the natural 
feelings of a woman, to permit the libertinism of her 
husband, and even receive his mistress on the footing of a 
companion. In conformity with these notions, he had the 
inhumanity, in the presence of the whole court, to intro- 
duce Mrs. Palmer to the queen, a short time after his 
marriage. The wretched princess, though pierced to the 
heart by discovering the alienation of her husband's affec- 
tions, endeavoured to suppress her poignant feelings, and 
to receive the mistress with smiles. But the effort was 
beyond her strength. As she retired to her chair, the tears 
gushed from her eyes, the blood from her nose, and she 
fainted away. 

Charles, instead of being melted, was enraged by an 
incident which so forcibly accused him of cruelty, and 
presaged an unwelcome disobedience to his commands. 
He now devoted his nights to dissolute revels ; he took 
no pains to conceal the ascendancy of his mistress; he 
attempted to ennoble her by conferring the earldom of 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 459 

Castlemaine on her husband, who indignantly rejected 
this badge of his dishonour ; and was so infatuated, as to 
insist with his queen to receive his paramour as a lady 
of her bed-chamber. This new affront awakened all the 
spirit of the princess. She firmly refused to subscribe to 
her own degradation, and to admit into her train a woman 
who was lost to honour, and who had so deeply wounded 
her happiness. The people sympathized with her virtuous 
indignation ; and even Charles could not withhold his 
esteem from the victim of his injustice. Yet, more alive 
to pride than to any generous feeling, he determined to 
subdue her spirit by severity. He dismissed her Portu- 
guese attendants ; he allowed his companions to jest with 
her name in their nocturnal debauches ; and he gave very 
plain intimation, that all who looked for his favour must 
pay their court to his mistress. The queen now found 
herself consigned to cruel neglect : she saw the favourite 
of her husband lodged in her palace ; and, even in her 
presence, receiving the homage of the nobility. The mis- 
tress was met, wherever she turned, by the sounds of gaiety; 
the queen alone seemed doomed to perpetual unhappiness. 
Her fortitude was unequal to such a trial : she gradually 
fell from that elevated tone in which she found no one to 
support her ; and at length condescended to the humiliating 
art of caressing the object of her aversion. Charles tri- 
umphed in a degradation which lessened the public interest 
for the queen ; and endeavoured, at a subsequent period, 
to add new dignity to his mistress, (who was now divorced 
from her husband,) by creating her Duchess of Cleveland.* 
The adoption of such profligate principles in a court, 
could not fail to afflict a virtuous minister. Clarendon 
had endeavoured, by every argument, to dissuade his 
sovereign from a conduct which would blast his reputa- 
tion, and shake his authority. He represented to him that 
such infamous connexions were universally odious in Eng- 
land ; " that a woman, who prostituted herself to the king, 
* Continuation, pp. 320—343. 



460 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

was equally infamous to all women of honour, and must 
expect the same contempt from them, as if she were com- 
mon to mankind ; and that no enemy he had could advise 
him a more sure way to lose the hearts and affections of 
the people, than the indulging himself in such licentious- 
ness." We learn with regret that the chancellor, after 
this bold avowal, should have been prevailed on to under- 
take the task of persuading the queen to yield to her 
husband's commands, and to receive his mistress among 
the ladies of her bed-chamber. This compliance on the 
part of Clarendon seems to have proceeded from an anx- 
ious desire to conciliate the king and queen, and, in all 
other respects, his behaviour was entirely worthy of him- 
self, and of his station. While the courtiers strove to 
distinguish themselves by their obeisance to the mistress, 
he disdained to countenance her by the slightest attention ; 
and even refused to affix the great seal to any grant in 
which she was named. # The Earl of Southampton alone 
acted the same honourable part ; and would never suffer 
her name to be inserted in the treasury books. From that 
time forward, Charles began to look with secret dissatis- 
faction on ministers whose morality was a permanent 
reproach on his own conduct ; and to give up his better 
judgment to the vindictive spirit of the mistress, f 

While a foundation of dislike to the chancellor was thus 
laid in the royal breast, some occurrences of a very differ- 
ent nature served to render him unpopular with the public. 
Cromwell, as a consideration for uniting his arms with 
France, had obtained the town of Dunkirk, which he had 
aided in wresting from the Spaniards. This acquisition 
gave general satisfaction as an equivalent for Calais, and 
the Protector had endeavoured to give it importance by 
strengthening the fortifications, and improving the har- 
bour. But it was found to be a possession more popular 

* In consequence of this refusal, she was obliged to transmit to Ireland 
the patents for her new title, to pass under the seal of that kingdom. 
t Burnet, vol i., p. 239. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 461 

than beneficial ; and the yearly expense of the garrison, 
(120,000/. sterling,) became an insupportable burden to 
the prodigal and necessitous Charles. This consideration 
having made the court very desirous to be rid of the charge, 
the military men readily discovered that the place was 
untenable by land, and useless as a naval station. A reso- 
lution was therefore speedily formed to dispose of it by sale 
to some continental power. As Spain was too poor to pay 
for it, and Holland too weak to retain it, France was 
selected as the proper purchaser ; and, after some nego- 
tiation, the place was transferred to her for about four 
hundred thousand pounds. 

The odium, arising from a transaction which was ac- 
counted dishonourable, no less in itself than from the 
uses to which the price was applied, fell very generally on 
the chancellor, who was represented as its principal adviser 
and promoter. He assures his readers, however, that he 
was, at first, extremely averse to the measure ; and that 
the sale was resolved on between the kino; and the other 
ministers, before his advice was asked. # He does not, 
however, deny that he was gained over by the arguments 
of his colleagues ; and it is certain that he was very earnest 
in pressing the court of France to give favourable terms. -f* 

* Continuation, p. 384. 

t See the correspondence which passed between him and the French 
ambassador, the Count d'Estrade, on this occasion. If Clarendon does 
not utter the following sentiments merely as a piece of diplomatic finesse 
to enhance the value of the place, he certainly incurred, with open eyes, 
the reproach of this transaction. He thus writes to d'Estrade, August 
9, 1661 ; " They who know any thing of the present temper of this king- 
dom must believe, that, as the delivery of that place would never be con- 
sented to by the parliament, or, in truth, by the privy council, if it should 
be referred to their judgment, so the delivering it up by the king's imme- 
diate authority, will be as ungracious and unpopular an act to the whole 
nation as can be put in practice." These considerations Clarendon states 
as an argument for the king's demanding such a price, as Avould for some 
time enable him to do without the supplies which the parliament Avould, 
on this account, be disposed to refuse him. " I shall hold myself the 
most unfortunate man, if this affair be not crowned with success," says 
he in another letter to d'Estrade. 



462 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

How far the transaction itself deserves the reproach it has 
incurred, appears very doubtful. Neither the fortifications 
nor the harbour bore any comparison to their importance 
since Louis XIV. bestowed such vast sums on their im- 
provement. The place, if tenable, might have proved a 
convenient inlet to our armies, and a desirable retreat in 
the event of disaster : it might have proved a station to 
our own, instead of the enemy's privateers. But it may 
reasonably be doubted whether these advantages could 
have counterbalanced the waste it must have occasioned 
of the national revenues. 

The first open instance of displeasure which the chancel- 
lor experienced from the king, took its rise from a religious 
question. Charles had formed a strong attachment to the 
Romish religion, from its inculcating a blind submission 
to princes as well as to priests ; and, before the Resto- 
ration, he had resolved, if he ever regained his throne, to 
mitigate the legal penalties which depressed a faith so 
congenial to his notions of government. He soon, how- 
ever, perceived that there existed a strong prejudice against 
the Catholics, and that no favour could be extended to 
them without including the dissenters at large. Clarendon's 
inflexibility on these subjects being well known, the ad- 
visers of Charles acted without his knowledge; and it was 
with no small surprise that the chancellor saw introduced 
into parliament, under the royal sanction, a bill to invest 
the king with a discretionary power of dispensing, for a 
reasonable fine, with the penal laws against all religious 
sects. Charles, indeed, declared that the increase of his 
revenue by gracious acts of dispensation was his sole ob- 
ject in this measure ; but the chancellor concluded that 
the effect of such a dispensing power would be to give 
indulgence to the Catholics only, the Protestant dissenters 
being as odious to the king as to himself. # He therefore 

* The greater indulgence of the king to the Papists than the Protestant 
dissenters was well known to Clarendon. In the minutes of a conversa- 
tion between the chancellor and his majesty, which have been preserved' 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 463 

determined, in opposition to the king's earnest remon- 
strance, to resist the bill openly in the house of lords ; 
and, in spite of all the exertions of the courtiers, he 
succeeded in procuring its rejection.* 

The king expressed the greatest indignation at this con- 
duct of the chancellor; and though he did not as yet find 
it convenient to withdraw his apparent kindness, he lis- 
tened more readily to the arts employed to diminish the 
influence of the minister. The nightly club of licentious 
wits, with whom Charles now associated, became more 
direct in their ridicule ; and Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, 
who excelled as a mimic, often contributed to the mirth 
of the company by personating the formal motions and 
grave enunciation of the chancellor. If the king happened 
to say that he would ride or hunt next day, one would 
immediately lay a bet that he should not ; " for," said he, 
" the chancellor will never permit it." — " Nay," another 
would rejoin, "I protest I cannot believe there is any 
ground for that imputation ; though, indeed, such things 
are talked of abroad." On this, Charles, who could not 
endure to be thought under such restraint, would eagerly 
assure them that, unless in matters of public business, the 
chancellor had not the slightest sway over him : and the 
wits would then, with a sneer, congratulate him on this 
discovery of his freedom.^ 

While such arts gradually alienated the mind of the 
prince from his minister, Clarendon felt himself extremely 
embarrassed in his public duties by the associates who 
were forced upon him. Henry Bennet, afterwards known 
as the Earl of Arlington, had so well paid his court to the 
mistress and the club of wits, that he was raised to the 
office of secretary of state, which Sir Edward Nicholas 
had been induced to resign ; and the chancellor was thus 
at once deprived of a tried friend, and associated with a 

the king remarks, " For my part, rebel for rebel, I had rather trust a 
Papist rebel than a Presbyterian one."— Supplement to State Papers, p. 47. 
* Continuation, pp. 469—473. + Ibid, p. 467. 



464 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

personal enemy . # Sir William Coventry, who had acquired 
much credit with the king by lessening the merits of other 
men, and Lord Ashley, who was true to any principle only 
as long as it served his views, were successively introduced 
into the most secret transactions of state ; and Clarendon 
had now the mortification to see his counsels debated and 
thwarted by men, who had no other end but to exalt them- 
selves on the ruin of his power.f 

Their schemes were unfortunately promoted by a mea 
sure, in which he had to contest with folly and injustice 
on the part both of the king and the people. The Dutch, 
had, at that period, carried commerce to an extent hi- 
therto unknown ; and the treasures which they annually 
imported from the East and West Indies, had become the 
admiration and envy of all Europe. The English, their 
most immediate rivals, beheld their success with peculiar 
jealousy; and a company of our countrymen, who had 
obtained a charter for the African trade, found their enter- 
prises in that quarter wholly eclipsed by the superior 
industry and experience of the Dutch. Great discontent 
was expressed by these disappointed adventurers : the traf- 
fic of the Dutch was represented as an unjust encroach- 
ment on some supposed right of England to the exclusive 
commerce of that coast ; and a war was suggested as the 
only effectual means of expelling our successful rivals. 
While the merchants, who, of all classes, seem most 
blind to the real interests of their country, were thus 
deluding themselves into the expectation of vast benefits 
from hostilities, the Duke of York, who panted for an 
opportunity to distinguish himself, eagerly seconded the 
clamour for war. J The king, unwilling to involve him- 
self in any expense but for his pleasures, for some time 
resisted these counsels : till at length, dazzled by the 
hope of rich prizes, and, perhaps, by the prospect of 
converting a portion of the supplies to his own private 
purposes, he determined to concur with the general wish. 

* Continuation, pp. 347, 372. f Ibid, pp. 348, 466. $ Ibid, p. 378. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 465 

The Dutch, not less proud than their rivals, were easily 
forced by some insults into hostilities.* 

Clarendon, supported by no counsellor but the Earl of 
Southampton, opposed, by every argument, this ruinous 
national distemper. But all his patriotic efforts only drew 
on him the imputation of pusillanimity, of a want of 
public spirit, or of some treacherous understanding with 
the enemies of his country. At last, on seeing that the 
evil was inevitable, he consulted the interests of his mas- 
ter by advising him to procure adequate supplies before 
the national zeal should cool, and the people, disappointed 
in their chimerical hopes, should begin to charge the con- 
sequences of their own folly on the misconduct of govern- 
ment. By his advice, a supply of two millions and a-half, 
a far greater sum than had ever been granted, was required 
from the parliament ; and so popular was the cause, that 
this extraordinary demand was acquiesced in without he- 
sitation.f 

The war was attended with brilliant success to our 
countrymen. The Dutch saw their naval commanders 
baffled ; their fleets driven from the sea ; their merchant- 
men destroyed in their very harbours. Yet even a succes- 
sion of triumphs was insufficient to maintain the delusive 
enthusiasm of the people : the loss on our side was heavy ; 
the young courtiers, who had hastened on board, to par- 
take in a series of triumphs, gradually felt their ardour 
abated by the rude alarms of the enemy and the ocean. 

* The English had already begun to maintain very high tenets with re- 
gard to the empire of the seas. They talked, says Clarendon, " of giving 
law to the whole trade of Christendom ; of making all ships which passed 
by or through the narrow seas, pay an imposition to the King of England. 
The rules prescribed to judge by in the prize-courts, were such as were 
Avarranted by no former precedents, nor acknowledged to be just by the 
practice of any neighbouring nation ; and such as would make all ships 
which traded for Holland, from what kingdom soever, lawful prize." — 
Continuation, p. 461. These tenets Clarendon loudly condemns as a 
violation of all justice, and calculated to render all nations the enemies 
of England. 
^ Continuation, p. 440. 

2 H 



466 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

The Dutch, though often defeated, still seemed possessed 
of inexhaustible resources ; and at length became more 
formidable than ever, when joined by the French, who 
could not quietly view the triumph of the English. The 
prizes, from which such sanguine hopes had been formed, 
enriched only a few adventurers ; and the supplies voted 
by parliament were speedily consumed in extensive arma- 
ments. The people, who felt their dreams of sudden riches 
converted into demands for extraordinary contributions, 
were further depressed by a dreadful pestilence which 
ravaged the kingdom, and a fire which laid the metropolis 
in ashes : nor was it to be expected, amidst these com- 
plicated disasters, that considerable supplies could be 
procured from the dispirited nation. In these circum- 
stances, Charles, who found the embarrassments of war 
become daily a more unseasonable interruption to his 
pleasures, readily hearkened to the overtures of peace, 
made by the French in behalf of themselves and their 
allies. Meantime, he resolved to diminish his expenditure 
by confining himself entirely to defensive measures, and 
fitting out no armament for the next season. This eco- 
nomical arrangement would enable him to convert to 
more grateful purposes a new supply of one million eight 
hundred thousand pounds, which had been granted by 
parliament. 

The Dutch, who smarted under their late disgraces, 
perceived, in this remissness of their enemies, an opportu- 
nity of retaliation. Having equipped a powerful fleet, they 
suddenly entered the Thames ; and, easily demolishing 
some feeble forts erected for the defence of the river, over- 
whelmed the capital with consternation. They took and 
plundered Sheerness, sailed up the Medway, and burnt 
several of the largest ships of the navy. They next steered 
their course to Portsmouth, to Plymouth, to Harwich ; 
and after having insulted these places, and again sailed up 
the Thames as far as Tilbury, they returned in triumph 
to their own shores. The whole kingdom was filled with 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 467 

dismay and indignation : but it was no longer time to 
meditate revenge ; and as the Dutch were now willing to 
accelerate a peace, a treaty was concluded, by which the 
English renounced every point for which they had osten- 
sibly undertaken the war. 

The stream of popular reproach now ran violently against 
the chancellor, who was stigmatized as the author of all 
disastrous counsels. The relaxation of the military pre- 
parations, the defenceless state of the Thames,* the unfa- 
vourable conditions of the peace, were without scruple laid 
to his charge. No party was inclined to undertake his 
defence. The Catholics and the dissenters looked on 
him as their implacable enemy ; nor had the royalists for- 
got his share in the act of indemnity and oblivion. The 
courtiers saw in him an absorber of power, and a stern re- 
prover of their licentiousness ; and the death of his virtuous 
friend, the Earl of Southampton,f which took place in 
this unfortunate conjuncture, left him as unsupported in 
the council as in the nation. The populace, too apt to 
believe all reports which coincide with their passions, 
opened their ears to the grossest charges. He had re- 
solved to erect a good family mansion on a piece of ground 
which he had received from the king, in the neighbourhood 

* We cannot but smile at the manner in which Clarendon frees himself 
from this charge, which was entirely the concern of the military officers. 
He assures us "he was so totally unskilful in the knowledge of the coast 
and the river, that he knew not where Sheerness was ; nor had ever 
heard of the name of such a place till the late events, nor had ever been 
on any part of the river with any other thought about him, than to get 
on shore as soon as could be possible." — Continuation, p. 752. 

t The Earl of Southampton was not less obnoxious to the mistress 
and the courtiers than Clarendon. The king had been wrought up to a 
resolution of depriving him of the office of treasurer, but was diverted 
from this purpose by the earnest intercession of the chancellor. As his 
dissolution approached, the courtiers renewed their instances ; and, when 
within five or six days of his death, they again persuaded the king to 
deprive him of the treasurer's staff. Clarendon, however, succeeded in 
preventing this act of royal ingratitude from giving a pang to the last 
moments of his friend. — Continuation, p. 781. See in Appendix (F.) 
Clarendon's opinion of this respected nobleman. 

2 h2 



468 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

of St. James's : but, by the unskilfulness or fraud of the 
architect, the edifice swelled to a palace, and the expense 
to fifty thousand pounds, three times the original estimate. 
As such an expenditure was evidently inconsistent with 
his slender fortune, the populace readily believed that it 
was supported by the sale of the national interests. Some 
called the building Dunkirk-House, and others Holland- 
House ; intimating that he had received bribes from the 
French and the Dutch to promote their views. # 

Nor was Charles displeased to see the popular clamour 
directed against the chancellor. The excesses of the court, 
which outraged every feeling of morality and decency, 
had excited violent discontents among the people, and a 
formidable opposition even in a parliament of royalists. 
The king had at length found his commons, so lately the 
advocates of passive obedience, more ready to inquire into 
abuses than to grant supplies ; and he was very willing to 
regain their favour by the sacrifice of a suspected minister. 
While he involved himself, by his weakness and prodi- 
gality, in the most irksome difficulties^ he was led, by 
the artful representations of his courtiers, to believe that 
the chancellor would use no influence to procure him sup- 
plies. He gave ear to a report that, at the period of the 
Restoration, this minister might easily have obtained for 
him a fixed revenue of two millions a-year ; but had de- 
clined it, lest it should render the king too independent of 
parliament.;}; 

Another instance of supposed opposition, which Charles 

* Burnet, vol. i., p. 365. 

f Charles could scarcely refuse the most unreasonable demand, when 
urged with importunity : but Clarendon assures us that this proceeded, 
both in this prince and in all his family, not from any generous liberality, 
but merely from imbecility. " They did not love," says the chancellor, 
" to deny, and less to strangers than to their friends ; not out of bounty 
or generosity, which was a flower that did never grow naturally in the 
heart of either of the families, that of Stuart or the other of Bourbon, 
but out of an unskilfulness and defect in the countenance." — Continua- 
tion, p. 644. 

X Continuation, p. 232. Wellwood's Memoirs. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 469 

could less pardon, was also charged on Clarendon. A 
young lady of the name of Stewart had lately appeared at 
court, with every attraction which could inflame the breast 
of a lover. The king soon declared himself her passionate 
admirer; and as he found her virtue proof against all 
dishonourable advances, he resolved, if possible, to legiti- 
mate his addresses. His queen had brought him no chil- 
dren ; and, though he knew that she had once at least been 
pregnant, he now countenanced a calumny, formerly cir- 
culated by the Spanish ambassador, that she was incapable, 
from some natural defect, of bearing children. On this 
ground, or on another allegation, that she had taken the 
vows of a religious order previous to her marriage, the 
king had formed a scheme of procuring a divorce by act 
of parliament. The opposition which Clarendon made to 
a design, which, besides its injustice, might have involved 
the state in a disputed succession, received the harshest 
construction ; and it was currently given out by the cour- 
tiers, that he had artfully seduced the king into a barren 
marriage, to secure the throne to his own descendants. 
While the divorce was in agitation, the object of the king's 
new attachment, unwilling to become involved either in 
dishonour or injustice, privately gave her hand to the 
Duke of Richmond ; and the king, during the paroxysm 
of his anger at the discovery of this union, having con- 
ceived a suspicion that it was promoted by Clarendon, 
began to breathe implacable revenge against his innocent 
minister.* 

During the consternation excited by the appearance of 
the Dutch fleet in the Thames, the parliament had been 
hastily summoned, though under a prorogation for several 
months. Clarendon endeavoured to dissuade the king 
from assembling the members, while incensed by the re- 

* Clarendon solemnly assures us, that he had no interference whatever 
in the marriage of the Duke of Richmond. He wrote to the king with 
protestations to the same purpose, but Charles was too angry to hearken 
to them. — Continuation, p. 8G0. 



470 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

cent disasters : and the disposition, which they imme- 
diately manifested, having justified this advice, it was 
found expedient to dismiss them till the period assigned 
by the prorogation. The members were displeased with 
the authors of a counsel which deprived them of an oppor- 
tunity to vent their discontents ; and still more irritated 
by a report that the chancellor had advised the king to 
dissolve them, and summon a new parliament. Clarendon 
had, indeed, already made himself enemies in both houses, 
by his attempts to recall them to moderation. He had 
offended the commons by resisting their encroachments 
on the privileges of the peers ; and the lords, by advising 
them to renounce some obnoxious immunities, which they 
claimed for themselves and their servants.* 

The Earl of Bristol, once known as the patriotic Lord 
Digby, had, during the exile of the king, embraced the 
Romish religion, with a view to the improvement of his 
fortunes ; and having, in consequence, been deprived of 
the secretaryship of state, he conceived a bitter animosity 
against his former friend the chancellor, to whom he 
unjustly attributed his loss of office. He had even had 
the folly to prefer an impeachment against the minister ; 
and although this attempt, supported neither by proofs 
nor by reasonable allegations, had only exposed himself 
to ridicule, he continued actively to promote every cabal 
among the lords against Clarendon. The Duke of Buck- 
ingham, though a man of no principle, had the dexterity 
to attach to himself a number of adherents ; and after 
having intrigued with Cromwell, and subsequently ingra- 
tiated himself with the king, was now at the head of a 
formidable opposition in parliament. On one occasion, 
the chancellor having detected him in a conspiracy to 
excite insurrection, advised the king to commit him to the 
Tower : on another occasion, he, from selfish views, op- 
posed a bill introduced by Buckingham, to prevent the 
importation of Irish cattle into England. For both these 

* Continuation, p. 730. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 4/1 

reasons, Buckingham avowedly sought the overthrow of 
Clarendon ; and actively concurred with the king's friends 
in preparing the parliament to attack him. 

In the meantime, the king, growing impatient to be rid 
of his minister, intimated to him, through the Duke of 
York, a desire to accept his resignation ; assuring him, at 
the same time, that this step proceeded from certain infor- 
mation that the parliament would impeach him, and that 
this was the only way to save him from the fate of Straf- 
ford. Clarendon, who had, a few days before, sustained a 
cruel affliction by the death of his wife, the faithful part- 
ner of all his fortunes, could not conceal his surprise at 
this unseasonable intimation. He demanded an audience, 
and there informed his majesty, that, though he should 
not regret to quit an office where his services were no 
longer acceptable, yet he would never, by a voluntary 
resignation, either show a willingness to desert the go- 
vernment in a season of difficulty, or a desire to avoid the 
scrutiny of parliament. He reminded the king, that Straf- 
ford, though not guilty of high treason, had committed 
many unjustifiable misdemeanours : but that, for his own 
part, he stood secure in conscious innocence ; and that 
he should consider his removal from office, in such a con- 
juncture, as a measure intended, not to screen him from 
his enemies, but to expose him to their utmost resent- 
ment. The king was ill prepared for the language of 
independence : he considered the chancellor as setting his 
power at defiance ; and refused to listen to the intercession 
of the Duke of York, who warmly interested himself in 
the cause of his father-in-law. In a few days, his majesty 
sent one of the secretaries of state, with a warrant under 
the sign manual, to receive the great seal, which the 
chancellor immediately delivered into his hands. 

But the enemies of Clarendon deemed their advantage 
insecure, so long as he should not be ruined in character, 
and expelled the kingdom. The Duke of Buckingham, 
who was now restored to full favour at court, did not fail 



472 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

to excite his partisans in parliament to a prosecution ; and, 
by the orders of the king, the dependents of government 
promoted the same intrigues.* At length, an impeach- 
ment was drawn up by the commons, consisting of fifteen 
articles, and exhibiting a lasting monument of the infamy 
of his accusers. In these it was alleged, that Clarendon 
had advised the king to discontinue parliaments, and go- 
vern by a standing army ; that he affirmed the king to be 
a Papist in his heart ; that he had, from interested mo- 
tives, deluded the king, and betrayed the nation in all 
foreign negotiations ; f that he had received large sums of 
money for procuring illegal patents, and for various other 
nefarious transactions ; that, by these practices, and by 
obtaining improper grants from the crown, he had sud- 
denly accumulated an enormous estate ; that he had 
effected the sale of Dunkirk far below its value ; that he 
had introduced an arbitrary government into the planta- 
tions ; and that he had advised some naval operations 
which prevented a decisive victory over the enemy. These 
accusations, all of which Clarendon offered to acknowledge 
if one of them could be proved,% were found, on deliberation, 
to be far short of high treason ; and though some resolute 
members declared, that, if any articles were introduced 
which should indisputably amount to treason, they would 
pledge themselves to make it good, yet it was thought 
preferable to impeach him only in general terms, and to 

* Among others who were very actively engaged in exciting the par- 
liament against Clarendon, was the Duke of Albemarle, (Monk,) who 
had formerly loaded him with professions of friendship. This man, who, 
with his wife, was resolved not to lose court favour on any account, now 
strenuously urged the members " no longer to adhere to the chancellor, 
since the king resolved to ruin him, and would look on all who were his 
friends as enemies to his majesty." — Continuation, p. 857. 

f The only gift, he assures us, which he ever received from a foreign 
prince, was a present of the books of the Louvre press from the French 
king. These must have been acceptable to him as a scholar. We have 
seen the indignation with which he rejected pecuniary offers from the 
same monarch. 

X Burnet, vol. i., p. 374. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 473 

demand his imprisonment. With the last request the 
lords refused to comply, until specific charges should be 
produced against him ; and they were indignant that the 
commons should endeavour to alter the ancient forms of 
justice, by a precedent derived from the odious proceed- 
ings against Strafford. 

A violent breach now ensued between both houses of 
parliament : the lords refused to commit a member of their 
house on a general charge ; and the commons represented 
this refusal as an obstruction to justice. From the obsti- 
nacy of the commons in this point, Clarendon perceived 
that their object was to have him thrown into prison, 
where they might hope to detain him under various pre- 
tences, without proceeding to his trial ; and there was no 
punishment of which he entertained a greater apprehen- 
sion. 5 * Yet for some time he resisted the importunities of 
his friends, who pressed him to withdraw from the storm ; 
and it was not till he had received intimation that such a 
step would be acceptable to the king, that he at length 
acquiesced. He embarked at midnight on the Thames in 
a small vessel ; and after being tossed about for three 
days, at length reached the first stage of his exile at 
Calais.t 

He left behind him an address to the house of lords, in 
which he satisfactorily vindicated himself from the mis- 
representations of his enemies. He assured them that the 
greatness of his fortune, which had formed a pretence for 
so many groundless charges, existed only in the fancy of 
his accusers : that his whole property, after paying his 
debts, would not exceed two thousand pounds a-year ; 
that such an estate might well be derived from the regular 
emoluments of his office ; that he had, on one occasion, 
(which has been mentioned,) received twenty thousand 
pounds from the king, and on another six thousand, with 
some grants of land ; but that he had never perverted 
justice for a bribe, nor set his interest to sale. Adverting 
* Continuation, p. 858. £ Ibid, p. 867. 



474 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

to the other class of imputations thrown on him, as the 
uncontrolled director of public affairs, he declared that 
during the first two years of his majesty's reign, the period 
of his greatest influence, he had communicated all his 
counsels to the other principal ministers of state ; that, in 
succeeding years, his credit had gradually fallen so low, 
that his propositions were often rejected, and many mea- 
sures undertaken against his advice, or even without his 
knowledge. He reminded them of his opposition to the 
war, which had involved the nation in so many calamities ; 
and he observed, that if he had not resisted so many im- 
proper grants, and laboured to restrain so many excesses, 
he would not now have been surrounded by such an array 
of enemies. # 

This address was communicated by the lords to the com- 
mons, and, from a wish, doubtless, to please the court, 
was declared by both houses to be an infamous libel, and 
condemned to be burnt by the hands of the hangman. 
His enemies would gladly have followed up this impotent 
revenge with an act of attainder, subjecting him to the 
penalties of treason for evading their jurisdiction ; but they 
found it expedient to rest satisfied with an act, which for 
ever banished him from the British dominions, unless, be- 
fore a limited day, he should appear to take his trial. f 

Clarendon soon found that, by withdrawing from his 
enemies, he had not escaped the pursuit of misfortune. 
The French government, being at that time desirous to 
enter into a close alliance with England, and understand- 
ing how obnoxious the chancellor was both to the court 
and the people, resolved not to prejudice their interests by 
generosity to an exile ; and therefore despatched a mes- 
senger after him to Rouen, with orders for his immediate 
departure from the dominions of France. Though ex- 
hausted by a journey in the depth of winter, and labouring 
under a severe attack of the gout, which had deprived him 

* Continuation, p. 871. Lives of the Lords Chancellor, vol. i., p. 287- 
t Continuation, p. 886. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 475 

of the use of his limbs, he hastened to quit this inhospitable 
land, and directed his course towards Calais, in doubt 
whether a surrender into the hands of his enraged country- 
men would not be preferable to a dependence on the pre- 
carious compassion of foreigners. But on his arrival at 
that town, his distempers had increased to such violence, 
that the physicians declared his removal could scarcely 
fail to be attended with immediate death. 

While he lay extended in agony, the French messenger, 
who had accompanied him to Calais, appeared by his bed- 
side, and informed him that he had received new orders 
from the king to insist on his instant departure from • 
France. Clarendon, shocked at the inhumanity of such a 
message, exclaimed, " You must bring orders from God 
Almighty, as well as from your king, before I can obey. 
Your king," continued he, " is a very great and powerful 
prince, yet not so omnipotent as to give a dying man 
strength to undertake a journey." He then sent for the 
magistrates and the lieutenant-governor of the town, who, 
moved by the strange vicissitudes of his fortune, and 
blushing for the inhospitable policy of their government, 
united in a warm remonstrance to the court against the 
cruelty of his treatment.* 

But the French court was already disposed, by other 
circumstances, to alter its conduct. The hopes of an alli- 
ance with England were now entirely dissipated, by the 
Triple League between England, Holland, and Sweden, 
concluded at the Hague by Sir William Temple : the Eng- 
lish government was therefore to be mortified by caresses 
to the obnoxious exile. Clarendon now received letters 
full of kindness from the ministers of France ; and a spe- 
cial permission from the court to take up his abode in any 
quarter of its dominions. He accepted this tardy civility ; 
but his sufferings had not as yet reached their termination. 
As he travelled through Normandy, he accidentally met 
at Evreux with a company of English soldiers, who had 
* Continuation, p. JJ92. 



476 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

entered the service of the French king. These men no 
sooner recognised the exiled minister, than, inflamed with 
the prejudices of their countrymen, they resolved to 
revenge their national grievances. They forced their way 
into the inn where he lodged ; wounded his attendants ; 
and, after covering himself with bruises, were proceeding 
to put an end to his life, when he was rescued from their 
barbarous hands. # 

After spending some time in different towns of France, 
he at length fixed his abode at Montpelier, where he expe- 
rienced that distinguished reception which was due to his 
reputation and misfortunes. The society of some esteemed 
English friends, who had repaired thither for the benefit 
of the climate, gave an additional charm to the civilities 
of the inhabitants ; and, after so many agitations, his mind 
began to partake of that cheerful tranquillity which had 
been diffused over it in the retirement of Jersey. He now 
resumed those literary labours which business, splendid 
but vexatious, had so long interrupted. He completed his 
History of the Rebellion ; and drew up, for the benefit of 
his descendants, those memoirs of his private views and 
transactions, which throw such important light on his 
character and his contemporaries. f 

One poignant affliction yet awaited him. His favourite 
daughter, the Duchess of York, had been, like her hus- 

* Continuation, p. 900. 

t Besides these well-known works, he left in manuscript an Historical 
Account of the Troubles of Ireland during the English Civil Wars. It 
was first published in 1721. He also wrote an Answer to Hobbes's Le- 
viathan, with various religious tracts, which are printed in a folio volume. 
His printed works, including the State Papers, amount to more than 
eight volumes folio. The simplicity and candour of his narrative is more 
to be admired than either his manner or his reflections. He excels most 
in the delineation of characters, of which he is very fond ; and his obser- 
vations on the conduct of life are far more valuable than his political spe- 
culations. The tediousness of his perplexed and ill-assorted style is at 
times apt to overcome even the interest of the narrative. The most fa- 
vourable specimen of his composition may be seen in the characters 
which he draws of Lord Digby, Sir John Berkley, and Sir Henry Ben- 
net. These are inserted in the Supplement to the State Papers. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 477 

band, shaken in her attachment to the Protestant faith, 
and had privately embraced the Romish religion. # Cla- 
rendon, deeply wounded by this intelligence, wrote her 
a letter full of dignity and tenderness, entreating her to 
reconsider more maturely the fallacies by which she had 
been misled ; and representing the reproach and ruin which 
her apostacy would bring on all her connexions. At the 
same time he wrote to the Duke of York, who had not 
yet openly acknowledged himself a Catholic, warning him 
of the dangerous consequences to his interests, unless he 
could, by authority and persuasion, reclaim his wife from 
a superstition so odious in England. f These efforts were 
ineffectual : but the mortification which he experienced 
would have been alleviated could he have foreseen that, 
when this prince and his family should be deprived of their 
throne for their adherence to the Romish religion, the pos- 
terity of his daughter should give two Protestant queens 
to the British empire. 

Neither the society nor the beauties of Montpelier could 
efface from the mind of Clarendon a tender recollection of 
his native country. At length he quitted the south of 
France, and took up his residence at Rouen, as a nearer 
approach to the beloved shores of England. At the com- 
mencement of his exile, even his children had not been 
permitted to visit him ; and when this severe prohibition 
was withdrawn, he wrote to the king with the gratitude 
and humility of a mind softened and subdued by affliction. 
He added a petition to his expressions of thankfulness : 
" If your majesty's compassion towards an old man, who 
hath served the crown above thirty years, in some trust and 
with some acceptation, will permit me to end my days, 
which cannot be many, in my own country, and in the 
company of my own children, I shall acknowledge it as a 
great mercy ; and do so entirely resign myself to your ma- 
jesty's pleasure, that I do assure your majesty, if the bill 
of banishment were by your grace repealed, I would sooner 
* Burnet, vol. i., p. 333. f Supplement, p. 37. 



478 EARL OF CLARENDON. 

go into the Indies than into England, without your parti- 
cular direction or licence."* 

When seven years had passed over his head in exile, he 
again ventured to renew his fruitless supplications. He 
wrote to the king, to the queen, arid to the Duke of York, 
humbly entreating a gracious permission to die in his own 
country. " Seven years was a time prescribed by God 
himself for the expiration of some of his greatest judg- 
ments ; and it is full that time since I have, with all pos- 
sible humility, sustained the insupportable weight of the 
king's displeasure : so that I cannot be blamed if I employ 
the short breath that is remaining in me, in all manner of 
supplications, which may contribute to the lessening this 
burthen that is so heavy upon me." The utmost of his 
wishes seemed no unsuitable boon to a man who had wasted 
his life in the service of his sovereign. " Since it will be in 
nobody's power," says he, " long to keep me from dying, 
methinks the desiring a place to die in should not be 
thought a great presumption ; nor unreasonable for me to 
beg leave to die in my own country, and amongst my own 
children, "-f But to a prince without feelings of humanity 
or virtue, such applications were unavailing. A few months 
after writing these letters, Clarendon paid the debt to 
nature, more exhausted by his misfortunes and premature 
infirmities than by length of years. He died at Rouen, on 
the seventh of December 1674, in the sixty-fifth year of 
his age. 

The close of Clarendon's life awakens a more tender 
regret, than if we had been led to contemplate his magna- 
nimous deportment on the scaffold. Whether, indeed, we 
view the progress or the termination of his career, we dis- 
cover more frequent occasion for compassion than for envy. 
Even in his highest exaltation he foresaw his fall ; for his 
mind was fully impressed with the jealousy of courtiers, 
and the inconstancy of the public. His undeviating virtue 
in a corrupt age, and amidst the temptations both of pros- 
* Supplement to State Papers, p. 40. + Ibid, p. 45. 



EARL OF CLARENDON. 479 

perity and misfortune, attracts our admiration more forcibly 
than either the reach of his talents, or the elevation of his 
views. His religion, as well as his policy, was clouded 
with prejudices; but while we lament a weakness insepa- 
rable from humanity, we honour the uncontaminated recti- 
tude of his intentions. His chief failing seems to have been 
too entire devotion to a prince who did not deserve his 
generous attachment. Yet could he never subdue his mind 
to the pliant principles or supple manners of a court ; and 
as he expressed his sentiments without regard to rank, he 
incurred the imputation of that haughty and uncomplying 
demeanour, which is so often united with the possession of 
power. The pride of office, however, seems little consis- 
tent with the soundness of his judgment; and, in that 
eventful age, he could not look around him without seeing 
examples of the instability of greatness, which would 
chastise the most flattering suggestions of human pre- 
sumption. In the meridian of his power, when he repaired 
to his country residence at Cornbury, the neighbouring 
nobility and gentry hastened to pay their obeisance to the 
favourite minister of their sovereign. Among others, it is 
said, Lenthal, the speaker of the Long Parliament, and 
once, from his station, the most conspicuous man in the 
kingdom, came to visit the chancellor. As he passed 
along the hall to the place where the minister stood, the 
company on either hand amused themselves with petulant 
jests on his altered condition and humbled demeanour. 
Lenthal observed their countenances, and addressing him- 
self with a smile to Clarendon, " These very gentlemen,'' 
said he, " who now come to pay their respects to your 
lordship, have formerly done the same to me."* 

* See Appendix (F.) 



APPENDIX. 



(A.) 
THE UTOPIA. 



The substance of the fable is as follows. More having, on a par- 
ticular occasion, visited the Low Countries, happened to pass some 
time at Antwerp, where he enjoyed the company of his friend Petrus 
iEgidius, a man equally distinguished for the urbanity of his manners 
and the depth of his erudition. ^Egidius, desirous to provide a rich 
banquet for the curiosity of his friend, introduced to him, at a fit 
opportunity, a person whose appearance was rendered remarkable by 
the length of his beard, his dusky and weather-beaten countenance, 
and the careless manner in which his cloak hung from his shoulder. 
This stranger was discovered to be no other than the celebrated tra- 
veller Raphael Hythlodseus, who had accompanied Americus Vespu- 
tius in all his voyages to the new world ; and, at his own earnest 
request, had been permitted to make one of the twenty-four, whom, 
at the conclusion of his fourth voyage, Americus there left behind 
him. More, inexpressibly delighted with his new acquaintance, 
listened with eager attention, while he recounted the adventures of 
himself and five of his companions, who had quitted the country 
where they had been left by Americus, and traversed still more dis- 
tant and unknown regions. At first, while their journey lay within 
the tropics, they found themselves surrounded by vast and dreary 
deserts, where vegetation had almost lost its power, from the exces- 
sive heat of the sun ; where the only inhabitants were wild beasts 
and serpents, or men scarcely less fierce or less dangerous. But as 
they proceeded farther in their journey, nature gradually began to 
assume a milder aspect; the heat became less intense, the earth was 
covered with a fresher green, the animals seemed more harmless and 
gentle ; till at length the appearance of cultivated fields, of villages, 
cities, ships busily employed in commerce, proved that they were now 
arrived among nations, who approached in civilization to those of 
Europe. The account of the manners and customs of these nations, 



482 APPENDIX. 

so unexpectedly found in a state of high improvement, afforded pe- 
culiar gratification to More ; and the institutions of one people in 
particular, the Utopians, so forcibly attracted his admiration, that 
the desire of imparting some account of them to the public could 
not be resisted. 

Such is the introduction to the history of the Utopians : next 
follows a more particular description of this remarkable people. 
More, struck with the wonderful sagacity of the stranger, and his 
profound acquaintance with men and manners, could not help ex- 
pressing his regret, that acquirements so rare and so well calculated 
to benefit mankind, should not be displayed at the court of some 
great prince, and applied to promote the welfare of nations. Hyth- 
lodseus argues the point with his new acquaintance ; and shows him 
the folly of expecting that a man, at once very wise and very honest, 
should acquire any sway in the councils of a monarch, surrounded, 
as he usually is, by sycophants who, for their own private ends, al- 
ways give the advice which humours his ruling passion, however per- 
nicious to himself, or destructive to his people. In the course of 
this discussion, the abject servility of courtiers, the bad education of 
princes, the absurd and ruinous ideas of unlimited prerogative in- 
stilled into their minds by interested flattery, are placed in a striking 
point of view, and undergo a severe and merited chastisement. While 
the doctrines, that a prince cannot be guilty of injustice, that all the 
possessions, and even all the persons of his subjects are his, and that 
they are entitled only to what is left them by his good pleasure, are 
represented by Hythlodseus as the base adulation of parasites, and a 
full apology for every crime ; we find him advancing, as the dictates 
of wisdom and honesty, that princes are appointed solely for the 
benefit of the people, for the better regulation of their affairs, and 
their more complete protection from injuries ; that monarchs ought 
to look on themselves as shepherds, entrusted with the care of a 
flock, for whose wants and security it is their first and sovereign 
duty to provide. Surprising doctrines ! when we consider the age 
in which they were uttered, and the tenets which prevailed a century 
afterwards. 

Nor is it against princes and their minions alone that this free 
satire is pointed. In England, (for Hythlodaeus had also visited Eng- 
land,) the traveller takes occasion to notice " the crowd of nobles 
who waste their existence in idleness, feeding like drones on the 
labour of others, and (with an avarice no less mean than their prodi- 
gality is unbounded) fleecing their wretched tenants to procure the 
means of profligate dissipation. As if such things were not suffi- 
ciently pernicious, continued he, these personages carry about with 
them an immense multitude of idle attendants, who, having never 



APPENDIX. 483 

learnt any honest means of earning a livelihood, must, when no 
longer useful for show, increase the burdens of the nation, by adding 
to its beggars." The monks and priests also, in their turn, pass the 
ordeal of his satire, and sustain the severe raillery repeatedly directed 
against their hypocrisy, their licentiousness, and their avarice. 

But the ridicule of Hythlodaeus is not confined to particular classes; 
he frequently exposes the absurdity of opinions then generally held 
in reverence, and discloses the defects of institutions, which, from the 
indolence, rather than the conviction of succeeding generations, re- 
main to this day unaltered. He attacks, by convincing arguments, 
the severity of the English criminal code ; and more particularly the 
absurdity, as well as the iniquity, of those laws, which affix a capital 
punishment to the most trivial thefts. " Nothing," he observes, 
" can be more pernicious, than to blend together crimes of the most 
unequal magnitude, and confound the guilt of the thief with that of 
the murderer, by sentencing both to the same punishment. When the 
highwayman perceives that the same fate awaits him, if convicted of 
robbery, as if he had also added murder to his guilt, he has here a 
powerful incitement to provide more effectually for his own safety, 
by destroying the witness of his crime." 

But the principal scope of all these examples and reasonings, is to 
show how vain it is to oppose arguments to prejudice ; how difficult 
to wean mankind from a blind reverence for the most pernicious 
institutions, when sanctioned by time, and rendered familiar by habit. 
To those, in particular, who are placed in the most exalted stations, 
and entrusted with the management of public affairs, it is observed, 
that every proposal of improvement is peculiarly ungracious. It 
seems an insult on their sagacity, that others should presume to dis- 
cover what had escaped themselves j and to maintain the pretensions 
of their own vanity, appears an object of infinitely greater impor- 
tance than to produce essential advantages to their country. " Among 
the counsellors of a prince," says Hythlodaeus, " there is no one who 
is not either in reality, or at least in his own opinion, so knowing as 
to have no need of advice from others. Yet, in cherishing their own 
darling opinions, these men only act a very natural part ; the crow is 
pleased with her own brood, and the ape delighted with her chatter- 
ing progeny. But if any man is so idle as to propose, to persons thus 
wrapped up in their own conceit, some improvement which he has 
drawn from the examples presented by history, or from his observa- 
tions on the practice of foreign countries, their vanity at once takes 
the alarm. They imagine that their own reputation for wisdom is 
in the utmost danger, and can be preserved only by discovering that 
the proposed improvement is futile or impracticable. If no other 
reason occurs for rejecting it, they fly to their never-failing resource, 

2 i 2 



484 APPENDIX. 

" that the existing 1 institutions satisfied their forefathers, and it were 
good for the present generation to be as wise as them ; and, having 
uttered this admirable maxim, it is amazing with what self-compla- 
cence they look down on their importunate adviser." 

During his stay in England, Hythlodseus had an opportunity of 
experiencing both the facility with which mankind acquiesce in their 
existing institutions, however evidently pernicious, and the careless- 
ness with which they reject the most palpable improvements. In a 
company of learned and grave persons, where he happened to be 
present, a lawyer contrived to thrust into the conversation a long 
panegyric on the laws of England, and more especially on that rigid 
justice that was exercised against thieves : he could not, however, 
help at the same time expressing his surprise, that although twenty 
were frequently suspended together on the same gibbet, and so very 
few suffered to escape, yet neither the numbers nor audacity of the 
depredators seemed anywise diminished. Hythlodseus, in reply, 
maintained, that if there are multitudes who cannot otherwise pro- 
cure the necessaries of life, it is vain to expect the suppression of 
theft and robbery from the severest punishments; he recounted vari- 
ous private customs and public institutions, by which numbers of the 
English common people were gradually led to this unhappy fate ; 
he showed, besides, that excessive punishments are both unjust and 
impolitic, that they tend to confound, in the ideas of men, great 
crimes with small, and to render them as little scrupulous of com- 
mitting the one as the other. Having, by these and many other 
arguments, demonstrated the impolicy of affixing such cruel punish- 
ments to dishonesty, he described the institutions which he had ob- 
served in a certain country of Persia, where the laws dealt with this 
crime in a very mild manner, and yet proved remarkably efficacious 
for its prevention. " And why," added he, " might not such insti- 
tutions be substituted in England, for those which experience has 
proved to be inadequate to their object V — " No," replied the lawyer, 
"such institutions can never be adopted in this kingdom without 
bringing the state into the most imminent danger ;" and having thus 
unanswerably refuted his antagonist, he shook his head, drew up his 
lip, and enjoyed his triumph in silence. The whole company acknow- 
ledged the irresistible force of his argument, and declared themselves 
of his opinion. 

In this manner does More proceed, throughout his first book, ex- 
posing the vices of political institutions, ridiculing the pertinacious 
prejudices of the people, and thus preparing the way for the recep- 
tion of his own projected improvements. Hythlodseus afterwards 
relates to his impatient hearers the institutions of the wonderful 
islanders. 



APPENDIX. 485 

The fundamental principle of the Utopian constitution is the com- 
munity of goods- The island is divided into a number of cities, to 
each of which a district of the adjacent country is assigned. The in- 
habitants of each division share every thing in common, their labour 
as well as the fruits of their labour. While the magistrates, as a 
special part of their duty, take care that every citizen, both male and 
female, shall perform a certain portion of work, a plentiful supply of 
all necessaries is produced with very moderate exertion ; and as no 
one is allowed to remain idle, so no one is depressed or exhausted 
by excessive toil. As the cultivation of the fields, the building and 
repairing of houses, the food and clothing of the people, are all 
regulated and directed by the magistrate, under his vigilant super- 
intendence all useless waste of labour, all the bad effects of private 
negligence and luxury, are avoided. 

Such are the principles on which the legislator of Utopia erects a 
political system, which, however beautiful, must be feeble and un- 
steady, since placed on so vain a foundation. Had he studied the 
laws of human nature, instead of pursuing the devious track of his 
fancy, (a track which, unfortunately, succeeding political speculators 
have, for the most part, preferred,) he would have discovered that 
every individual, being most intimately acquainted with his own feel- 
ings and wants, and most urgently stimulated by his own desires, is 
every way best qualified to undertake the care of his own enjoyments. 
He would have found, that nothing can be more hopeless than the 
attempt to reduce to uniformity the feelings and desires of a whole 
society; and nothing more oppressive, than to be perpetually thwarted 
or goaded by even the most wise and virtuous magistrate. He would, 
in short, have been convinced, that while every individual, stimulated 
by necessity, by ambition, by affection, pursues, without any restraint 
but what the safety of others requires, those plans to which he is 
led by his own private views, — the opulence, the comfort, the know- 
ledge, the general prosperity of the whole community, will attain the 
greatest perfection to which man, in his present state, can presume 
to aspire. 

To maintain a complete community of goods, and to destroy every 
idea of private property, the Utopians are obliged to have recourse 
to many remarkable institutions. Like the Lacedaemonians, they eat 
their meals in public, and, with a refinement which escaped Lycur- 
gus, they, every ten years, exchange their houses by lot. Nor is it 
found a less difficult task to prevent the indolent from avoiding their 
just share of the common labour. As the cultivation of the fields, 
their principal and most toilsome occupation, does not require the 
exertions of all, a certain number is, every two years, sent from the 
cities to carry on the agriculture, and at the end of that period, is 



486 APPENDIX. 

regularly replaced by another equal portion. Public superintendents 
take care that every person shall employ a prescribed part of each 
day in some useful occupation ; and when any one obtains a licence 
to travel from one city to another, he can procure neither food nor 
lodging, until he has executed the daily task in the place where he 
sojourns. As the use of money would be superfluous, where all are 
equally entitled to share in the public produce, and where a certain 
portion of labour is the universal price, it is there entirely unknown. 
Nor are the precious metals debarred only from circulating in the 
form of coin ; to render them an object of general contempt and 
aversion, they are applied to the meanest and most degrading uses, 
as ornaments for slaves, and chains for malefactors. 

In the present age, when the nature of wealth and the use of money 
are more distinctly understood, we cannot but smile at the self-com- 
placence of the legislator, while, triumphing in the excellence of this 
regulation, he imagines that he has thus torn up avarice by the roots, 
and along with it a long catalogue of the blackest crimes, as if sub- 
stitutes could not be found for gold, or the objects of inordinate 
avarice were confined to the precious metals. But, notwithstanding 
these, and various other defects, which tarnish the institutions of the 
Utopians, the book is interesting, as many of the regulations present 
a very pleasing, though not practicable endeavour at perfection. The 
people of each city, divided into a certain number of families or 
households, elect the magistrates, who, in their turn, nominate their 
prince, or president, from among four candidates selected by the 
people. This chief magistrate is appointed for life ; the rest hold 
office by annual election. The affairs of state are transacted by the 
senate, unless on occasions of peculiar difficulty, when they are refer- 
red to the general council of the island. Every precaution is taken 
to prevent abuses on the part of the magistrates, yet the most com- 
plete submission is paid to their decisions, and any resistance to the 
laws would immediately be followed by the severest punishment. 

In their religious, as well as their civil institutions, the same 
guarded respect is paid to the general feelings. As it is impossible 
that the opinions of a whole people, in regard to the abstruse and in- 
tricate questions of theology, should be reduced to an exact unifor- 
mity, every allowance is made for that difference in religious tenets 
which must naturally take place. While every one is allowed to 
believe, without inquiry or molestation, whatever is approved by his 
own understanding, he is not only prevented from employing either 
insult or injury toward those of an opposite creed, but even from 
attempting, by any other means than the most gentle persuasion, to 
make proselytes. Utopia abounds in sectaries, who openly profess 
the most opposite tenets ; yet a national worship has been devised, in 



APPENDIX. 487 

which even the most bigoted never refuse to join. Although some 
might introduce images into their rites, and some pay adoration to 
the spirits of departed saints, or to a plurality of gods, while others 
looked on these practices as the dictates of abject superstition ; yet 
as they all with one voice acknowledged the existence of one Su- 
preme Being, the Lord of lords, and Sovereign Director of all things, 
a point was afforded, in which the general worship might, without 
violence, centre. While every one is permitted, in private, to exer- 
cise, without restraint, the rites most conformable to his own belief, 
all adoration in the public temples is offered up to that one Supreme 
Being, whose attributes all equally acknowledge, and whose protec- 
tion all equally desire. 

The sagacity of the Utopians cannot be sufficiently applauded, for 
connecting together so intimately the ideas of virtue and industry, of 
idleness and vice. And, although the regulations adopted by their 
legislator, to retain all his people in continual activity, are often fan- 
ciful, and perhaps impracticable, yet it must be acknowledged, that 
the object he had in view is essentially connected with the improve- 
ment and happiness of mankind. The vast advantages which have 
resulted to the reformed countries of modern Europe, from the dis- 
persion of those hives of idle ecclesiastics who swarmed in the convents 
and cathedrals, demonstrate the wisdom of the Utopians, in having 
but a very small number of priests, yet all distinguished for their 
learning, and venerated for their virtue. They justly supposed, that 
the number of persons who could be found thus qualified, even in a 
whole nation, was very limited. It had also never entered into the 
minds of these islanders to set apart a class of hereditary nobles, who 
should succeed, without any exertion on their part, to the reward 
due only to public services ; who (like many of the English nobility 
in the days of More) should, with their numerous retainers, form such 
a lamentable addition to the idleness and profligacy of the community. 
Their only nobility is the class of the learned, consisting of persons 
selected from among the people at large, for the apparent superiority 
of their talents and acquirements, and permitted to devote their time 
to the cultivation of their minds, in the conviction that they may thus 
contribute more effectually to the public advantage, than by directing 
their activity to servile labour. From among this class, which com- 
prehends the most distinguished talents, and the most valuable ac- 
complishments of the community, the magistrates and ambassadors, 
the prince and priests, are selected. 

In nothing are the Utopians more strikingly superior to other na- 
tions, than in the extreme readiness and candour with which they give 
a full consideration to every improvement, whether devised by one of 
themselves, or imported from foreign countries. Having, from the 



488 



APPENDIX. 



imperfect suggestions of Hythlodseus and his companions, collected 
some rude idea of the nature and utility of printing, this useful art 
was immediately carried into practice, with a success equal to their 
ardour. The reception which they gave to the Christian religion, 
even from these rude missionaries, was conformable to their accus- 
tomed candour ; and a fair comparison of its tenets with the religious 
opinions hitherto known among them, was sufficient, with the better 
informed, for their conversion. 

Contented with their own happy island, and convinced that an 
extension of territory would, in fact, produce weakness, with an ap- 
pearance of greater strength, like those luxurious repasts which inflate 
the muscles while they undermine the health, the Utopians carry on 
no wars of conquest. To repel the aggressions of an enemy, to relieve 
some unfortunate neighbour from external violence, or domestic 
oppression, are, with them, the only causes of war. The triumphs of 
victory form, in their eyes, a poor compensation for the destruction 
and misery by which they must ever be purchased, and nothing ap- 
pears to them so unworthy of its name as military glory. Yet, while 
thus attached to peace, they well know that it can be maintained only 
by being ever prepared for war. Military exercises, therefore, form 
a necessary part of education with the young, and are not neglected 
even by those of more mature years. Military stores being in constant 
readiness, their army, on the first alarm, is prepared to carry the war 
beyond the bounds of their own territories. The ideas which they 
entertain of the relations of peace are no less singular. As they never, 
without due provocation, commence a war, so they never enter into 
a treaty of peace. A solemn engagement between two nations, not 
to commit mutual violence, appears to them no less unnecessary and 
unworthy of human nature, than a formal compact between two 
neighbours not to rob or assassinate each other. To live in peace 
and harmony is so evidently the interest of nations as of individuals, 
that they consider it our natural bent ; and conclude, with an opinion 
abundantly justified by experience, that the evil passions which would 
counteract these intentions of nature, will not be restrained by the 
forms of a treaty. 



The other works of More, besides his fragment of a History of 
England, are almost all religious, and chiefly controversial. He has, 
indeed, left a considerable number of Latin epigrams, partly transla- 
ted from the Greek, and partly original ; but they are not in general 
written with that point and elegance which we might have expected 
from such a wit and scholar. They appear the careless effusions of 
the moment, and probably of his younger years. 



APPENDIX. 489 

His other writings in Latin were, 

1. A Reply to Luther's Answer to Henry VIII. This performance, 
very witty, but equally scurrilous, he did not chuse to give to the 
world under his own name, but adopted the fictitious one of Guliel- 
mus Rosicus. 

2. A Reply to an Epistle of Joannes Pomeranus, a follower of 
Luther. 

3. A Treatise on the Passion of Christ, which he wrote in the 
Tower. It was afterwards translated into English by his niece, Mrs. 
Basset. 

His English writings were, 

1. His Dialogues, which were chiefly intended to expose the errors 
in Tindal's translation of the Bible. 

2. Answers to Tindal, Barnes, &c. &c. 

3. The Supplication of Souls, in answer to the Supplication of 
Beggars. 

4. Answer to Salem and Bizanze. 

5. Three books, concerning Comfort and Tribulation : a Treatise 
on the Sacrament : a Treatise on the Passion. These were all written 
in the Tower. 

Many of his letters, the most valuable part of his works, are pre- 
served ; and many are to be found scattered in collections of the 
letters of Erasmus. 



(B.) 

The following Letter, concerning the education of his family , More 
wrote to Mr. Gunnel, their domestic tutor. 

I have received your letters, my dear Gunnel, such as I have always 
found them, most elegant and full of affection. Your regard to my 
children I perceive from your letters, your diligence from theirs : 
every one of the last filled me with increased satisfaction. But what 
gave me most unfeigned pleasure was, to learn that Elizabeth had 
maintained, in her mother's absence, that modest and respectful be- 
haviour, which few do when their mothers are present. Tell her 
that this conduct is more gratifying to me than the possession of all 
the learning in the world. For as I prefer learning, united with virtue, 
to all the treasures of princes, so I look on the reputation of learning, 
when separated from good morals, as merely infamy rendered noto- 
rious and conspicuous. This more especially is the case in regard to 
women, whose knowledge, as a novelty, and a reproach on the indo- 
lence of men, the world is eager to attack, and to lay on letters the 



490 APPENDIX. 

vices of their disposition ; imagining that from the faults of the more 
learned, their own ignorance will pass for virtue. But if, on the 
other hand, any woman should unite even a moderate portion of 
learning to eminent mental virtues, (which, under your direction, I 
trust all my girls will do,) I reckon her to have made a greater ac- 
quisition of real good, than if she had joined the riches of Croesus 
with the beauty of Helen. Not on account of the reputation which 
will thus be gained, (though that also will accompany virtue, as th e 
shadow does the body,) but because the solid rewards of wisdom can 
neither be taken away like riches, nor decay like beauty. It depends 
upon the rectitude of one's own conscience, and not on the breath of 
others, — the most precarious and dangerous of supports. For, as it 
is a characteristic of a good man to avoid infamy, so to seek only for 
fame is not only an indication of vanity, but subjects a man to ridicule 
and wretchedness. He must have a troubled soul indeed, who is 
elevated with joy, or depressed with grief, according as the opinion 
of mankind happens to fluctuate. There is no greater benefit, in my 
opinion, derived from learning, than that inestimable lesson which it 
teaches, to regard, in the pursuit of literature, not its applause, but 
its utility. Although some pretenders have abused learning, as well 
as other good things, as merely the means of acquiring applause, yet 
the most learned men, those philosophers who have pointed out the 
wisest rules of human life, have ever taught more salutary precepts. 

I have dwelt at greater length on the impropriety of directing the 
mind to applause, because, my dear Gunnel, you have, in your letter, 
declared it as your opinion, that the lofty and aspiring genius of my 
Margaret ought not to be curbed. In this judgment I entirely 
agree ; and I trust you will also allow, with me, that a habit of fixing 
the mind on vain and meaner ends, depresses and degrades a gene- 
rous and noble disposition ; while, on the other hand, that mind is 
exalted which aspires to virtue and to real good, neglecting those 
shadows which men usually mistake for solid benefits. It is from a 
conviction of these truths, my dear Gunnel, that I have entreated 
not only you, who I knew would voluntarily second my aims, from 
your tender regard to all my children ; that I have not only entreat- 
ed my wife, whose maternal tenderness sufficiently impels her to the 
most earnest endeavours ; but that I have also entreated all my 
friends to take every opportunity of warning my children to avoid 
the precipices of pride and vanity, and walk in the smooth and level 
paths of modesty; to look without emotion on the glare of gold, 
and not to sigh for those things which they falsely admired in 
another. I have entreated my friends to admonish them, that they 
should not value themselves more when possessed of beauty, nor 
less when deprived of it : that they should not, through negligence, 



APPENDIX. 491 

deface the comeliness which nature may have given them, nor en- 
deavour to increase it by improper arts : that they should account 
virtue the first good, and learning the second : that from learning 
they ought to derive its most sublime lessons, — piety towards God, 
benevolence towards all men, modesty of the heart, and Christian 
humility. By such a conduct it is, that they will secure to them- 
selves, from God, the rewards of an innocent life, in the certain 
expectation of which, they will not be afraid of death ; and being 
possessed of a solid source of pleasure, will neither be buoyed up 
with empty applauses, nor cast down by unjust reproaches. These 
I look on as the true and genuine fruits of learning ; and, as I ac- 
knowledge that all the learned do not obtain them, so I maintain that 
those who begin to study with this intention, may easily obtain this 
happy issue. 

Nor do I think that it affects the harvest, that a man or woman 
has sown the seed. If they are worthy of being ranked with the 
human race, if they are distinguished by reason from the beasts, 
that learning, by which the reason is cultivated, is equally suitable 
to both. Both of them, if the seed of good principles be sown in 
them, equally produce the germs of virtue. But if the female soil 
be in its nature stubborn, and more productive of weeds than fruit, 
(an opinion which has often been employed to deter women from 
literature,) it ought, in my opinion, to be the more diligently culti- 
vated with learning and good instruction, to correct by industry the 
defects of nature. These were the opinions of the most wise and 
virtuous men of antiquity. To omit others, I shall only mention the 
venerated names of Jerome and Augustine, who not only exhorted 
the most illustrious matrons and the most admired virgins to apply 
themselves to learning, but also assisted their progress, by diligently 
explaining to them the most abstruse parts of the scripture ; and 
wrote to young women letters so full of erudition, as to be barely 
intelligible to many men who profess themselves extremely erudite. 
My dear Gunnel, make my daughters acquainted with the works of 
these excellent men ; and from hence they will learn what end they 
ought to propose from their learning ; and how wholly they ought 
to look for its fruits in a good conscience, and the approval of 
Heaven. Thus, internally happy and tranquil, they will neither be 
moved by the praise of flatterers, nor chagrined by the ignorant 
scoffers at learning. 

But I hear you reply, that although all these maxims may be true, 
yet they are beyond the capacity of my young scholars; since few, 
indeed, of a more advanced age, can wholly resist the ticklings of 
vanity. But, my Gunnel, the more difficult it is to get rid of this 
distemper of pride, the greater ought our correcting efforts to be 



492 APPENDIX. 

from the earliest stages of life. Nor can I attribute the extreme 
obstinacy with which this vice adheres to our breasts, to any other 
cause than that, almost from the time we are born, it is implanted 
by nurses in the tender minds of children, cherished by teachers, 
fostered and matured by parents ; while every one instructs the pupil 
to expect praise as the proper reward of every good action. Thus 
being long accustomed to look with high estimation on applause, it 
happens, at length, that while they endeavour to gain the appro- 
bation of the greater number, who are always the worst, they 
become ashamed to be good. To keep off this contagion from my 
children, let me entreat you, and their mother, and all my friends, 
continually to expose the folly and despicable nature of vanity ; and, 
on the other hand, to represent that nothing is more noble than that 
humble modesty so often inculcated by Christ. This lesson ought 
to be impressed on their minds rather by teaching them virtue, than 
reproaching them with their faults, and thus inducing them to love 
and not hate those who give them wholesome counsel. It might be 
extremely useful, for that purpose, to put into their hands the pre- 
cepts of some ancient Fathers on this subject : they are monitors who 
cannot be suspected of passion, and who must derive much authority 
from their sacred character. If their lessons in Sallust do not 
occupy their whole time, you will add to the many other obligations 
I owe you, by reading something of this sort with my Margaret and 
Elizabeth ; for John and Cecil are not, perhaps, far enough advanced. 
By this means you will render my children, who are dear to me by 
nature, and dearer by learning and virtue, still more dear by an 
increase of knowledge and good morals. 

The following Letters were written by More to his Children, while he 
was absent from them at court. 

Thomas More to his whole School. 

You see what a device I have found to save paper, and avoid 
the labour of writing all your names. But, although you are all so 
dear to me, that if I had named one, I must have named all the rest, 
yet there is no appellation under which you appear dearer to me 
than that of scholar: The tie of learning seems almost to bind me 
to you more powerfully than even the tie of nature. I am glad, 
therefore, that Mr. Drue is again safely returned to you, as you 
know I had some reason to be anxious about him. If I did not love 
you so much, I should envy you the happiness of possessing so many 
and such excellent masters. I understand Mr. Nicholas is also with 
you ; and that you are", with his assistance, making such prodigious 
progress in astronomy, as not only to know the pole-star, and the 



APPENDIX. 493 

dog, and such other common constellation? ; but even, with a skill 
that bespeaks truly accomplished astronomers, to be able to distin- 
guish the sun from the moon. Go on then, with this new and won- 
derful science, by which you ascend to the stars. And, while you 
diligently consider them with your eyes, let this holy season of 
Lent remind you of the sacred hymn of Boethius, which teaches you 
to raise your minds also to heaven ; lest, while your eyes are lifted 
up to the skies, your souls should grovel among the brutes. Adieu, 
my dearest children. 

Thomas More to his dear Children ; and to Margaret Giggs, whom 
he numbers among his children. 

The merchant of Bristol brought me your letters the day after 
he received them from you. I need not say that I was exceedingly 
delighted, for nothing can come from your hands, so rude and 
negligent, as would not give me more satisfaction than the most 
laboured production from any other person. So "much does my 
affection endear your writings to me ; but, happily, they need 
nothing to render them agreeable beyond their own intrinsic merit, 
their pleasantry and elegant Latin. There was not one of your 
letters which did not charm me. But, to speak sincerely, John's 
letter pleased me most, because it was longer than the others, and 
because he appeared to have written it with more study and pains. 
For he has not only prettily described, and neatly expressed what- 
ever he says, but, with much pleasantry and not a little shrewdness, 
retorts my jests : yet so temperately, as well as agreeably, does he 
manage his repartees, that he shows that he never forgets it is his 
father to whom he writes ; and whom he fears to offend, while he 
studies to amuse him. Now I expect a letter from each of you 
almost every day that I am absent. Neither will I have any such 
excuse, as the shortness of time, the hasty departure of the messen- 
ger, the want of any thing to say ; excuses which John never makes. 
For nobody prevents you from writing ; and, as to the messenger, 
may not you be beforehand with him, by having your letters always 
written and sealed, to wait any opportunity ? But, as to the want of 
matter, how can that ever take place when you write to me ? — to 
me, who am gratified to hear either of your studies or amusements ; 
who shall be pleased to hear you, at great length, inform me that 
you have nothing at all to say ; which certainly must be a very easy 
task, especially for women, who are said to be always most fluent upon 
nothing. This, however, let me impress upon your remembrance; 
that, whether you write of serious subjects, or of the merest trifles, 
you always write with care and attention. Nor will it be amiss, if 



494 APPENDIX. 

you should first write all your letters in English, which you will 
afterwards translate, much more successfully, and with much less 
fatigue, into Latin, while the mind is free from the labour of inven- 
tion, and solely occupied with the expression. But, while I leave 
this to your own judgments, I enjoin you by all means to examine 
what you write with great care, before you make out a fair copy. 
Consider the sentences first in the order in which they are placed, 
and then attend minutely to their several parts. By this means you 
will easily discover any improper expression, into which you may 
have fallen ; and even after you have corrected it, and written out a 
fair copy, do not account it irksome still to examine it again. For, 
in copying over, we are apt to fall into errors which we had already 
noticed and corrected, By this diligence, your trifles will, in a short 
time, be of importance. For as there is nothing so witty and 
pointed as that it may not be rendered insipid by a stupid and awk- 
ward mode of expression, so there is nothing so silly in itself, as 
that it may not, by skilful management, acquire a pleasant and 
graceful turn. 

Thomas More to Margaret, Elizabeth, Cecilia, his beloved daugh- 
ters ; and to Margaret Giggs, whom he loves not less than if she 
were his daughter by birth. 

I cannot express, my sweet girls, the exquisite pleasure which 
I received from your elegant letters. Nor am I less gratified to find 
that, though you are upon a tour and frequently changing your resi- 
dence, you omit none of your accustomed daily exercises. Now, 
indeed, I believe you love me, since you do in my absence what you 
know would give the greatest pleasure if I were present. And as I 
see you do every thing to gratify me, it shall be my part to make 
your attentions profitable to yourselves. Believe me, there is nothing 
which more refreshes me, amidst the fatigues of business, than when 
I read what has been written by you. Were it not for the evidence 
before me, I might have suspected that your teacher was led astray 
by his affections, in the flattering accounts which he gave me of 
your proficiency. But from what you write, you induce me to 
believe him, though his praises of your elegance and acuteness in 
disputation might otherwise well exceed my faith. Therefore, I am 
most anxious to return home to you, that I may compare my scholar 
with you. He cannot believe that he will not find some exaggera- 
tion in your master's accounts. But for my part, as I know how 
indefatigable you are, I have no doubt, that if you do not overcome 
your master himself irk disputation, you will at least not give up the 
point. Adieu, my dearest girls. 



APPENDIX. 495 

A Letter of More to his daughter Margaret. 

You are too timid and bashful, my dear Margaret, in asking 
money from a father who is desirous to give it, especially when you 
made me happy with a letter, every line of which I would not 
recompense with a piece of gold, as Alexander did those of Cherilus ; 
but, if my power were equal to my will, I would repay every syllable 
with an ounce of gold. I have sent you what you asked, and would 
have added more, were it not so delightful^ to receive the requests 
and caresses of a daughter, — of you, in particular, whom both know- 
ledge and virtue make most dear to my soul. The sooner you spend 
this money, in your usual proper way, and the sooner you have 
recourse to me for more, the greater pleasure you will give to your 
father. Adieu, my beloved daughter. 



(C.) 

Epitaph on the Tomb of Sir Thomas More, in the church of Chelsea. 

(written by himself.) 

Thomas Morus, urbe Londinensi, familia non celebri sed honestd 
natus, in Uteris utcunque versatus; quum et causas aliquot annos 
juvenis egisset in foro, et in urbe su& pro Shirevo jus dixisset ; ab in- 
victissimo rege Henrico Octavo (cui uni regum omnium gloria prius 
contigit, ut Fidei Defensor, qualem et gladio et calamo vere praestitit, 
merito vocaretur) adscitus in aulam est, delectusque in consilium ; et 
creatus eques, Proqusestor primum, post Cancellarius Lancastriae, 
tandem Angliae, miro principis favore factus est. Sed interim in pub- 
lico regni senatu, lectus est orator populi : prseterea legatus regis 
nonnunquam fuit, alias alibi, postremo vero Cameraci comes et col- 
lega junctus principi legationis CuthbertoTunstallo turn Londinensi, 
mox Dunelmensi Episcopo, quo viro vix habet orbis hodie quicquam 
eruditius, prudentius, melius. Ibi, inter summos orbis Christian! mo- 
narches, rursus refecta foedera redditamque mundo diu desideratam 
pacem et lsetissimus vidit et legatus interfuit. 

Quam superi pacem firment faxintque perennem ! 

In hoc officiorum vel honorum cursu, quum ita versaretur ut neque 
princeps optimus operam ejus improbaret, neque nobilibus esset in- 
visus, nee injucundus populo, furibus autem, et homicidis 

* molestus. Pater ejus tandem Johannes Morus, eques, et in 

* This blank, it is conjectured, was filled up, or intended to be filled up, with the 
words hereticisque, since More informs Erasmus that he boasted in his epitaph of his 
enmity to heretics. As the blank, however, is perfectly plain, and no symptom of 



496 APPENDIX. 

eumjudicum ordinem cooptatus, qui regius concessus vocatur; homo 
civilis, suavis, innocens, mitis, misericors, sequus et integer ; annis 
quidem gravis, sed corpore plus quam pro setate viridi, postquam eo 
productam sibi vitam vidit ut filium viderit Angliae Cancellarium, 
satis in terra se jam moratum ratus, libens emigravit in Coelum. At 
Alius, defuncto patre, cui quamdiu supererat comparatus, et juvenis 
vocariconsueverat, et ipse quoque sibi videbatur, amissum jam pa- 
trem requirens, ac editos ex se liberos quatuor et nepotes undecim 
respiciens, apud animum suum coepit persenescere. Auxit hunc 
affectum animi subsecuta statim, velut adpetentis senii signum, pec- 
toris valetudo deterior. Itaque, mortalium harum rerum satur, quam 
rem, a puero pene, semper optaverat, ut ultimos aliquot annos obti- 
neret liberos, quibus hujus vitse negotiis paulatim se seducens, futurse 
possit immortalitatem meditari, earn rem tandem (si coeptis annuat 
Deus) indulgentissimi principis incomparabili beneficio, resignatis 
honoribus, impetravit : atque hoc sepulchrum sibi, quod mortis eum 
nunquam cessantis obrepere quotidie cornmonefaceret, translatis hue 
prioris uxoris ossibus, extruendum curavit. Quod ne superstes sibi 
frustra fecerit, neve ingruentem trepidus mortem horreat, sed de- 
siderio Christi libens oppetat; mortemque ut sibi non omnino mor- 
tem sed januam vitse feliciori inveniat; precibus eum piis, lector 
optime, spirantem precor, defunctumque prosequere. 

Chara Thomse jacet hie Joanna uxorcula Mori, 

Qui tumulum Aliciae hunc destino, quique mihi. 
Una mihi dedit hoc conjuncta virentibus annis, 

Me vocet ut puer, et trina puella patrem. 
Altera privignis, quod gloria rara novercae est, 

Tam pia quarn natis vix fuit ulla suis. 
Altera sic mecum vixit, sic altera vivit, 

Charior incertum est quae sit an ilia fuit. 
O simul, O juncti poteramus vivere nos tres 

Quam bene, si fatum, religioque sinant ! 
At societ tumulus, societ nos obsecro coelum, 

Sic mors, non potuit quod dare vita, dabit. 



erasure appears on the marble, it may be supposed that More, from farther reflection, 
rather chose to leave a space vacant for the word, than actually to inscribe it. Ano- 
ther explanation has been given. — We are informed, that, in the seventeenth century, 
the epitaph was scarcely legible, whereas at present it is perfectly distinct. Hence 
it is conjectured, that the whole has been repaired, probably by some descendant of 
More ; and that, from respect to the memory of the illustrious author, no attempt has 
been made to retouch this obnoxious word. The perfect smoothness of the marble 
seems, however, to favour the former supposition. 



APPENDIX. 497 

(D.) 
The Earl of Sussex to Sir William Cecil.* 

Good Mr. Secretary, 

Upon your request and promise, made in your letter of the 16th, I 
will write to you what by any means I conceive in this great matter; 
although the greatness of the cause, in respect of the person whose it 
is, the inconstancy and subtleness of the people with whom we deal, 
and the little account made always of my simple judgment, give me 
good occasion of silence. And, therefore, (unless it be to the queen's 
majesty, from whom I would not wish any thought of my heart to be 
hidden,) I look for a performance of your promise. 

The matter must at length take end, either by finding the Scottish 
queen guilty of the crimes that are objected against her, or by some 
manner of composition, with a show of saving her honour. The first, 
I think, will hardly be attempted, for two causes. The one, for that 
if her adverse party accuse her of the murder, by producing of her 
letters, she will deny them, and accuse the most of them of manifest 
consent to the murder, hardly to be denied ; so as, upon the trial on 
both sides, her proofs will judicially fall best out, it is thought. The 
other, for that their young king is of tender and weak years, and 
state of body; and, if God should call him, and their queen were 
judicially defaced and dishonoured, and her son, in respect of her 
wickedness, admitted to the crown, Hamilton, upon his death, should 
succeed ; which, as Murray's faction utterly detest, so after her public- 
defamation, they dare not, to avoid Hamilton, receive her again, for 
fear of revenge. And, therefore, to avoid these great perils, they 
surely intend, so far as I can by any means discover, to labour a com- 
position, wherein Lyddington, who was a dealer here, hath, by means, 
dealt with the Scottish queen, and will also, I think, deal there. 
And to that end I believe you shall shortly hear of Melvil there, who, 
I think, is the instrument between Murray, Lyddington, and their 
queen, to work this composition ; whereunto I think surely both 
parties do incline, although diversely affected for private respects. 

The Earl of Murray and his faction work that their queen would 
now willingly surrender to her son, after the example of Navarre ; 
and procure the confirming the regency in Murray ; and therewith 
admit Hamilton and his faction to place of council, according to 
their states : and to remain in England herself, with her dowry of 

* This letter was written a few months after Mary's confinement in England ; and 
the writer was, at the time, employed as one of the commissioners at York, to inves- 
tigate the charges against her. 

2 K 



498 ArPENDIX. 

France ; whereunto, I think, they would add a portion out of Scot- 
land. And if she would agree to this, I think they would not only 
forbear to touch her in honour, but also deliver to her all matters 
that they have to charge her, and denounce her clear by parliament, 
and therewith put her in hope, not only to receive her again to her 
royal estate if her son die, but also, upon some proof of the forgetting 
of her displeasure, to procure in short time, that she may be restored 
in her son's life, and he to give place to her for life : and if she will 
not surrender, it is thought Murray will allow of her restitution, and 
abode in England, so as he may continue regent. The Hamiltons 
seek that the young king's authority should be disannulled; the 
hurts done on either side recompensed ; and the queen restored to 
her crown, and to remain in Scotland. And yet, in respect of her 
misgovernment, they are contented that she should be governed by 
a council of the nobility of that realm, to be appointed here; in 
which council there should be no superior in authority or place 
appointed, but that every nobleman should hold his place according 
to his state ; and that the queen's majesty should compose all dif- 
ferences, from time to time, amongst them. And to avoid all difference 
and peril, their queen should have certain houses of no force ; and a 
portion to maintain her estate ; and the castles of Edinburgh, Stir- 
ling, and Dunbar, and other principal forts of the realm, to be 
delivered into the hands of upright noblemen, that leaned to no 
faction, to be sworn to hold them in sort to be prescribed ; and that 
the whole nobility of Scotland should swear amity, and should testify 
the same under their hands and seals : and that the queen's majesty 
should take assurance for performance ; and have the bringing up of 
the young prince in England, by nobility of England or Scotland, at 
her appointment. And, so as this might take effect, I think they 
might easily be induced to consent their queen should also remain in 
England, and have her dowry out of France, and a portion out of 
Scotland, to maintain her state and her son's, in places to be appoint- 
ed by the queen's majesty. 

Thus do you see how these two factions, for their private causes, 
toss between them the crown and public affairs of Scotland, and 
how near they be to agree, if their private causes were not ; and care 
neither for the mother, nor the child, (as I think, before God,) but 
to serve their own turns. Neither will Murray like of any order 
whereby he should not be regent styled ; nor Hamilton of any order 
whereby he should not be as great, or greater, in government than 
Murray. So as the government is presently the matter, whatsoever 
they say was heretofore the cause ; and, therefore, it will be good 
we forget not our part in this tragedy. 

The opinion for the title to the crown, after the death of their 



APPENDIX. 499 

queen and her son, is diversely carried, as the parties be affected to 
these two factions. The Hamiltons affirm the Duke of Chatelherault 
to be the next heir by the laws. The other faction say, that the 
young king, by his coronation, and mother's surrender, is rightfully 
invested of the crown of Scotland ; whereby his next heir in blood 
is, by the laws, next heir also to the crown ; and thereby the duke 
avoided. The fear of this decree raaketh Hamilton to withstand the 
king's title, for the surety of his own, and the regency of Murray, in 
respect of his claim to be governor, as next heir to the crown ; for 
which causes, it is likely Hamilton will hardly yield to the one or the 
other. And yet, James Macgill, an assured man to Morton, talks 
with me secretly of this matter ; and defending the right of the Earl 
of Lennox's son, as next heir, in blood, to the young king, confessed 
to me that he thought, because it came by the mother, it must 
return by the mother's side, which was Hamilton ; but it would put 
many men on horseback before it were performed; whereby you 
may see what leadeth in Scotland. There is some secret envy 
between Lyddington and Macgill ; and, as I think, if they agree not 
by the way, you shall find Lyddington wholly bent to composition, 
and Macgill, of himself, otherwise inclined. If the queen's majesty 
would assure their defence, you may deal with them as you see cause. 
Thus far of that I have gathered by them ; wherein, if they do not 
alter, I am sure I do not err. And now, touching my opinion of the 
matter, (not by way of advice, but as imparting to you what I con- 
ceive,) I think surely no end can be made good for England, except 
the person of the Scottish queen be detained, by one means or other, 
in England. Of the two ends before written, I think to be best in 
all respects for the queen's majesty, if Murray will produce such 
matter as that the queen's majesty may, by virtue of her superiority 
over Scotland, find judicially the Scottish queen guilty of the murder 
of her husband, and therewith detain her in England, at the charges 
of Scotland, and allow of the crowning of the young king, and re- 
gency of Murray. Whereunto, if Hamilton will submit himself, it 
were well done, for avoiding of his dependency upon France to 
receive him, with provision for indemnity of his title ; and if he will 
not, then to assist Murray to prosecute him and his adherents by 
confiscation, &c. If this will not fall out sufficiently, (as I doubt 
it will not,) to determine judicially, if she deny her letters ; then 
surely I think it best to proceed by composition, without show of 
any meaning to proceed to trial. And herein, as it shall be the 
surest way for the queen's majesty to procure the Scottish queen to 
surrender, &c. if that may be brought to pass ; so, if she will by no 
means be induced to surrender, and will not end except she may be 

2 k 2 



500 



APPENDIX. 



in some degree restored, then I think it fit to consider therein these 
matters following- : — 

First, To provide for her and her son, to remain in England, at the 
charges of Scotland. 

Secondly, To maintain in strength and authority Murray's faction, 
as much as may be, so as they oppress not unjustly Hamilton. 

Thirdly, To compose the causes between Murray and Hamilton, 
and their adherents ; and to provide for Hamilton's indemnity in the 
matter of the title, to avoid his dependency upon France. 

Fourthly, That the queen's majesty order all differences that shall 
arise in Scotland ; and to that end, have security on both sides. 

Fifthly, If Hamilton will wilfully dissent from order, it is better 
to assist Murray in the prosecuting of Hamilton, by confiscation, 
although he flee therefore to France, than to put Murray any ways 
in peril of weakening. 

And lastly, To foresee that these Scots on both sides, pack not 
together, so as to unwrap (under colour of this composition) their 
mistress out of all present slander, purge her openly, show them- 
selves satisfied with her abode here, and, within short time after, 
either by reconcilement or the death of this child, join together to 
demand of the queen the delivery home of their queen to govern her 
own realm, she also making the like request ; and then the queen, 
having no just cause to detain her, be bound in honour to restore 
her unto her realm, and for matters that in this time shall pass, have 
her a mortal enemy for ever after. And thus, ceasing to trouble 
you any farther, I wish to you as to myself. 

Yours, most assured, 

T. SUSSEX. 
From York, the semi October, 1568. 

Secretary Cecil's Deliberation concerning Scotland, December 
21, 1568. 

The best way for England, but not the easiest, that the Queen of 
Scots might remain deprived of her crown, and the state continue 
as it is. 

The second way for England profitable, and not so hard. — That 
the Queen of Scots might be induced, by some persuasions, to agree 
that her son might continue king, because he is crowned, and herself 
to also remain queen; and that the government of the realm might 
be committed to such persons as the Queen of England should name, 
so as, for the nomination of them, it might be ordered that a con- 
venient number of persons of Scotland should be first named to the 



APPENDIX. 501 

Queen of England, indifferently for the Queen of Scots, and for her 
son ; that is to say, the one half by the Queen of Scots, and the other 
by the Earl of Lennox and Lady Lemon, parents to the child ; and 
out of those, the queen's majesty of England to make choice for all 
the offices of the realm, that are, by the laws of Scotland, disposable 
by the king or queen of the land. 

That until this may be done by the queen's majesty, the govern- 
ment remain in the hands of the Earl of Murray, as it is, providing 
he shall not dispose of any offices or perpetuals to continue any 
longer than to these offered of the premises. 

That a parliament be summoned in Scotland by several command- 
ments, both of the Queen of Scots and of the young king. 

That hostages be delivered unto England, on the young king's be- 
half, to the number of twelve persons of the Earl of Murray's party, 
as the Queen of Scots shall name j and likewise on the queen's be- 
half, to the like number, as the Earl of Murray shall name ; the 
same not to be any that have, by inheritance or office, cause to be in 
this parliament, to remain from the beginning of the summons of 
that parliament, until three months after that parliament ; which 
hostages shall be pledges, that the friends of either part shall keep 
the peace in all cases, till, by this parliament, it be concluded, that 
the ordinance which the Queen of England shall devise for the 
government of the realm, (being not to the hurt of the crown of 
Scotland, nor contrary to the laws of Scotland for any man's inheri- 
tance, as the same was before the parliament at Edinburgh, in De- 
cember 1567,) shall be established, to be kept and obeyed, under 
pain of high treason for the breakers thereof. 

That by the same parliament also be established all executions 
and judgments, given against any person to the death of the late king- 
That by the same parliament, a remission be made universally 
from the Queen of Scots to any her contraries, and also from every 
one subject to another, saving that restitution be made of lands and 
houses, and all other things heritable, that have been, by either side, 
taken from them which were the owners thereof, at the committing 
of the Queen of Scots to Lochleven. 

That by the same parliament it be declared, who shall be successors 
to the crown, next after the Queen of Scots and her issue ; or else, 
that such right as the Duke of Chatelherault had, at the marriage of 
the Queen of Scots with the Lord Darnley, may be conserved and 
not prejudiced, 

That the Queen of Scots may have leave of the queen's majesty 
of England twelve months after the said parliament, and that she 
shall not depart of England, without special licence of the queen's 
majesty. 



502 APPENDIX. 

That the young king shall be nourished and brought up in Eng- 
land, till he be years of age. 

It is to be considered, that, in this case the composition between 
the queen and her subjects may be made with certain articles, out- 
wardly to be seen to the world, for her honour, as though all the 
parts should come of her; and yet, for the surety of contraries, that 
certain betwixt her and the queen's majesty are to be included. 



(E.) 
Lord Burleigh's Advices to his Son, Robert Cecil. 

Son Robert, 
The virtuous inclinations of thy matchless mother, by whose ten- 
der and godly care thy infancy was governed; together with thy 
education under so zealous and excellent a tutor ; puts me in rather 
assurance than hope, that thou art not ignorant of that summum bo- 
num, which is only able to make thee happy as well in thy death as 
in thy life ; I mean, the true knowledge and worship of thy Creator 
and Redeemer : without which, all other things are vain and mise- 
rable. So that thy youth being guided by so sufficient a teacher, I 
make no doubt that he will furnish thy life with divine and moral 
documents. Yet, that I may not cast off the care beseeming a pa- 
rent towards his child ; or that thou shouldest have cause to derive 
thy whole felicity and welfare rather from others than from whence 
thou receivedst thy breath and being ; I think it fit and agreeable to 
the affection I bear thee, to help thee with such rules and advertise, 
ments for the squaring of thy life, as are rather gained by experience 
than by much reading. To the end, that entering into this exorbi- 
tant age, thou mayest be the better prepared to shun those scandalous 
courses whereunto the world, and the lack of experience, may easily 
draw thee. And because I will not confound thy memory, I have 
reduced them into ten precepts ; and, next unto Moses' Tables, if 
thou imprint them in thy mind, thou shalt reap the benefit, and 
I the content. And they are these following : — 

I. When it shall please God to bring thee to man's estate, use 
great providence and circumspection in chusing thy wife ; for from 
thence will spring all thy future good or evil. And it is an action of 
thy life, like unto a stratagem of war ; wherein a man can err but 
once. If thy estate be good, match near home and at leisure : if 
weak, far off and quickly. Inquire diligently of her disposition, and 
how her parents have been inclined in their youth. Let her not 
be poor, how generous * soever; for a man can buy nothing in the 

* i. e. Well-born. 



APPENDIX. 503 

market with gentility. Nor chuse a base and uncomely creature 
altogether for wealth ; for it will cause contempt in others and loath- 
ing in thee. Neither make choice of a dwarf or a fool ; for by the 
one thou shalt beget a race of pigmies; the other will be thy continual 
disgrace ; and it will yirke * thee to hear her talk. For thou shalt 
find it to thy great grief, that there is nothing more fulsome f than 
a she-fool. 

And touching the guiding of thy house, let thy hospitality be mo- 
derate ; and, according to the means of thy estate, rather plentiful 
than sparing, but not costly ; for I never knew any man grow poor 
by keeping an orderly table. But some consume themselves through 
secret vices, and their hospitality bears the blame. But banish swi- 
nish drunkards out of thine house, which is a vice impairing health, 
consuming much, and makes no show. I never heard praise ascribed 
to the drunkard, but the well-bearing his drink ; which is a better 
commendation for a brewer's horse or a drayman, than for either a 
gentleman or a serving-man. Beware thou spend not above three of 
four parts of thy revenues ; nor above a third part of that in thy 
house ; for the other two parts will do no more than defray thy ex- 
traordinaries, which always surmount the ordinary by much ; other- 
wise thou shalt live, like a rich beggar, in continual want. And the 
needy man can never live happily nor contentedly : for every disaster 
makes him ready to mortgage or sell. And that gentleman who sells 
an acre of land, sells an ounce of credit ; for gentility is nothing else 
but ancient riches. So that, if the foundation shall at any time sink, 
the building must needs follow. — So much for the first precept. 

II. Bring thy children up in learning and obedience ; yet without 
outward austerity. Praise them openly, reprehend them secretly. 
Give them good countenance, and convenient maintenance, accord- 
ing to thy ability ; otherwise thy life will seem their bondage, and 
what portion thou shalt leave them at thy death, they will thank 
death for it, and not thee. And I am persuaded that the foolish 
cockering X of some parents, and the over-stern carriage of others, 
causeth more men and women to take ill courses than their own 
vicious inclinations. Marry thy daughters in time, lest they marry 
themselves. And sutler not thy sons to pass the Alps ; for they shall 
learn nothing there but pride, blasphemy, and atheism.§ And if by 
travel they get a few broken languages, that shall profit them nothing 
more than to have one meat served in divers dishes. Neither, by my 

* i. e. Irk. -f- i. e. Disgusting. £ i, e. Over-indulgence. 

§ This strong caution against travelling seems like a presage of the future evils it 
was to produce to his own family. His grandson William, the second Earl of Exeter, 
and his great-grandson Lord Roos, were both, when at Rome made proselytes to the 
popish religion. 



504 APPENDIX. 

consent, shalt thou train them up in wars : for he that sets up his 
rest to live by that profession, can hardly be an honest man, or a good 
Christian. Besides, it is a science no longer in request than use. 
For soldiers in peace are like chimneys in summer. 

III. Live not in the country without corn and cattle about thee. 
For he that putteth his hand to the purse for every expense of house- 
hold, is like him that keepeth water in a sieve. And what provision 
thou shalt want, learn to buy it at the best hand. For there is one 
penny saved in four, betwixt buying in thy need, and when the mar- 
kets and seasons serve fittest for it. Be not served with kinsmen, or 
friends, or men intreated to stay ; for they expect much, and do 
little : nor with such as are amorous, for their heads are intoxicated. 
And keep rather two too few, than one too many. Feed them well, 
and pay them with the most ; and then thou mayest boldly require 
service at their hands. 

IV. Let thy kindred and allies be welcome to thy house and table. 
Grace them with thy countenance, and farther them in all honest 
actions; for, by this means, thou shalt so double the band of nature, 
as thou shalt find them so many advocates to plead an apology for 
thee behind thy back. But shake off those glow-worms, I mean para- 
sites and sycophants, who will feed and fawn upon thee in the sum- 
mer of prosperity ; but, in an adverse storm, they will shelter thee 
no more than an arbour in winter. 

V. Beware of suretyship for thy best friends. He that payeth 
another man's debt, seeketh his own decay. But if thou canst not 
otherwise chuse, rather lend thy money thyself upon good bonds 
although thou borrow it. So shalt thou secure thyself, and pleasure 
thy friend. Neither borrow money of a neighbour or a friend, but 
of a stranger ; where, paying for it, thou shalt hear no more of it. 
Otherwise thou shalt eclipse thy credit, lose thy freedom, and yet pay 
as dear as to another. But in borrowing of money, be precious of 
thy word ; for he that hath care of keeping days of payment, is lord 
of another man's purse. 

VI. Undertake no suit against a poor man with receiving * much 
wrong ; for, besides that thou makest him thy compeer, it is a base 
conquest to triumph where there is small resistance. Neither attempt 
law against any man, before thou be fully resolved that thou hast right 
on thy side : and then spare not for either money or pains. For a 
cause or two so followed and obtained, will free thee from suits a 
great part of thy life. 

VII. Be sure to keep some great man thy friend, but trouble him not 
for trifles. Compliment him often with many, yet small gifts, and of 
little charge. And if thou hast cause to bestow any great gratuity, let 

* i. e. Though you receive. 



APPENDIX. 505 

it be something which may be daily in sight. Otherwise, in this 
ambitious age, thou shalt remain like a hop without a pole, live in 
obscurity, and be made a foot-ball for every insulting companion to 
spurn at. 

VIII. Towards thy superiors be humble, yet generous.* With 
thine equals familiar, yet respective. Towards thine inferiors show 
much humanity, and some familiarity : as to bow the body, stretch 
forth the hand, and to uncover the head; with such like popular 
compliments. The first prepares thy way to advancement. The 
second makes thee known for a man well bred. The third gains a 
good report; which, once got, is easily kept. For right humanity 
takes such deep root in the minds of the multitude, as they are more 
easily gained by unprofitable courtesies, than by churlish benefits. 
Yet I advise thee not to affect, or neglect, popularity too much. Seek 
not to be Essex : shun to be Raleigh.f 

IX. Trust not any man with thy life, credit, or estate. For it is 
mere folly for a man to enthral himself to his friend, as though, 
occasion being offered, he should not dare to become an enemy. 

X. Be not scurrilous in conversation, nor satirical in thy jests. 
The one will make thee unwelcome to all company ; the other pull 
on quarrels, and get the hatred of thy best friends. For suspicious 
jests, when any of them savour of truth, leave a bitterness in the 
minds of those which are touched. And, albeit I have already poin- 
ted at this inclusively, yet I think it necessary to leave it to thee as a 
special caution ; because I have seen many so prone to quip and gird,}; 
as they would rather lose their friend than their jest. And if per- 
chance their boiling brain yield a quaint scoff, they will travail to be 
delivered of it as a woman with child. These nimble fancies are but 
the froth of wit. 



(F.) 

[Characters, from Clarendon, of several of the Ministers, Parlia- 
mentary Speakers, and other public men mentioned in the text. 

The references subjoined to each character are to be understood of 
the early edition (1712) of Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, 
in three large octavos : where " Life" is prefixed, the reference is 
to the octavo edition of the " Life and Continuation of Claren- 
don," also in three large octavos.] 

* i. e Not mean. 

-|- Essex was the idol of the people; his rival, Raleigh, their aversion, till his 
undeserved misfortunes attracted their compassion, and his heroism their applause. 
X Mock and jibe. 



506 



APPENDIX. 



JOHN HAMPDEN. 



He was a gentleman of a good extraction, and a fair fortune, who, 
from a life of great pleasure and licence, had, on a sudden, retired 
to extraordinary sobriety and strictness, and yet retained his usual 
cheerfulness and affability, which, together with the opinion of his 
wisdom and justice, and the courage he had showed in opposing the 
ship-money, raised his reputation to a very great height, not only 
in Buckinghamshire, where he lived, but generally throughout the 
kingdom. He was not a man of many words, and rarely begun the 
discourse, or made the first entrance upon any business that was 
assumed ; but a very weighty speaker : and after he had heard a full 
debate, and observed how the house was like to be inclined, took up 
the argument, and shortly, and clearly, and craftily so stated it, that 
he commonly conducted it to the conclusion he desired : and if he 
found he could not do that, he was never without the dexterity to 
divert the debate to another time, and to prevent the determining 
any thing in the negative, which might prove inconvenient in the 
future. He made so great a show of civility, and modesty, and hu- 
mility, and always of mistrusting his own judgment, and esteeming 
his with whom he conferred for the present, that he seemed to have 
no opinions or resolutions, but such as he contracted from the infor- 
mation and instruction he received upon the discourses of others, 
whom he had a wonderful art of governing, and leading into his 
principles and inclinations, whilst they believed that he wholly de- 
pended upon their counsel and advice. No man had ever a greater 
power over himself, or was less the man that he seemed to be, which 
shortly after appeared to every body, when he cared less to keep on 
the mask. He was of an industry and vigilance not to be tired out, 
or wearied by the most laborious ; and of parts not to be imposed 
upon, by the most subtle or sharp ; and of a personal courage equal 
to his best parts ; so that he was an enemy not to be wished, wher- 
ever he might have been made a friend, and as much to be appre- 
hended where he was so, as any man could deserve to be. In a 
word, what was said of Cinna might well be applied to him : — " He 
had a head to contrive, a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute 
any mischief." He was killed in a skirmish in 1643. Vol. i., p. 185 ; 
ii., p. 265. 

JOHN PYM. 

No man had more to answer for the miseries of the kingdom, or 
had his hand or head deeper in their contrivance ; and yet, I believe, 
they grew much higher even in his life than he designed. He was a 
man of a private quality and condition of life ; his education in the 



APPENDIX. 507 

office of the exchequer, where he had been a clerk, and his parts 
rather acquired by industry than supplied by nature, or adorned by 
art. He had been well known in former parliaments, and was one of 
those few who had sat in many ; the long- intermission of parliaments 
having worn out most of those who had been acquainted with the 
rules and orders observed in those conventions. This gave him some 
reputation and reverence amongst those who were but now intro- 
duced. In the short parliament (April 1640) he spoke much, and 
appeared to be the most leading man ; for, besides the exact know- 
ledge of the former, and orders of that council, which few men had, 
he had a very comely and grave way of expressing himself, with 
great volubility of words, natural and proper ; and understood the 
temper and affections of the kingdom as well as any man ; and had 
observed the errors and mistakes in government, and knew well how 
to make them appear greater than they were. He died towards the 
end of December, 1643. Vol. ii., p. 462. 

OLIVER St. JOHN, Solicitor-General. 

He was a lawyer of Lincoln's Inn, known to be of parts and indus- 
try, but not taken notice of for practice in Westminster Hall, till he 
argued at the Exchequer-chamber the case of ship-money, on the 
behalf of Mr. Hampden, which gave him much reputation, and 
called him into all courts, and to all causes, where the king's prero- 
gative was most contested. He was a man reserved, and of a dark 
and clouded countenance ; very proud, and conversing with very few, 
and those men of his own humour and inclinations. He made good 
the confidence of his party, by not in the least degree abating his 
malignant spirit, or dissembling it ; but with the same obstinacy 
opposed every thing which might advance the king's service, when he 
was his solicitor, as ever he had done before. Vol. i., pp. 186, 211. 

He was made lord chief justice of the common pleas in the time of 
the Commonwealth. He died in 1673. 



GEORGE LORD DIGBY, afterwards EARL OF BRISTOL. 

He was a man of very extraordinary parts by nature and art, and 
had surely as good and excellent an education as any man of that age 
in any country : a graceful and beautiful person, of great eloquence 
and becomingness in his discourse, (save that sometimes he seemed a 
little affected,) and of so universal a knowledge, that he never wanted 
subject for a discourse. He was equal to a very good part in the 
greatest affairs, but the unfittest man alive to conduct them, having 
an ambition and vanity superior to all his other parts, and a conn- 



508 APPENDIX. 

dence in himself, which sometimes intoxicated, transported, and ex- 
posed him. He had, from his youth, by the disobligations his family 
had undergone from the Duke of Buckingham, and the great men 
who succeeded him, and some sharp reprehension himself had met 
with, which obliged him to a country life, contracted a prejudice and 
ill-will to the court ; and so had, in the beginning of the parliament* 
engaged himself with that party which discovered most aversion to 
it, with a passion and animosity equal to theirs, and, therefore, very 
acceptable to them. But when he was weary of their violent coun- 
sels, and withdrew himself from them, with some circumstances 
which enough provoked them, and made a reconciliation and mutual 
confidence in each other for the future manifestly impossible among 
them, he made private and secret offers of his service to the king, to 
whom, in so general a defection of his servants, it could not but be 
very agreeable ; and so his majesty being satisfied, both in the disco- 
veries he made of what had passed, and in his professions for the 
future, removed him from the house of commons, where he had 
rendered himself marvellously ungracious, and called him by writ to 
the house of peers, where he did visibly advance the king's service. 
Vol. i., p. 343. He succeeded his father as Earl of Bristol, in 1653, 
and died in 1676. See the text, Life of Clarendon, p. 470. 

WILLIAM LAUD, Archbishop of Canterbury. 

He was a man of great parts, and very exemplary virtues, alloyed 
and discredited by some unpopular natural infirmities ; the greatest 
of which was, (besides a hasty sharp way of expressing himself,) 
that he believed innocence of heart, and integrity of manners, was a 
guard strong enough to secure any man in his voyage through this 
world, in what company soever he travelled, and through what way 
soever he was to pass ; and sure never any man was better supplied 
with that provision. He had great courage and resolution ; and 
being most assured within himself, that he proposed no end in all 
his actions and designs, but what was pious and just, (as sure no 
man had ever a heart more entire to the king, the church, or his 
country,) he never studied the easiest ways to those ends; he 
thought, it may be, that any art or industry that way would discredit, 
at least make the integrity of the end suspected, let the cause be 
what it will. He did court persons too little ; nor cared to make 
his designs and purposes appear as candid as they were, by showing 
them in any other dress than their own natural beauty, though per- 
haps in too rough a manner; and did not consider enough what 
men said, or were like to say of him. If faults and vices were fit to 
be looked into and discovered, let the persons be who they would 



APPENDIX. 509 

that were guilty of them, they were sure to find no connivance or 
favour from him. 

On the death of the Earl of Portland, (1634,) he was made one 
of the commissioners of the treasury and revenue, which he had 
reason to be sorry for, because it engaged him in civil business and 
matters of state, wherein he had little experience, and which he had 
hitherto avoided. 

He defended himself (on his trial) with great and undaunted 
courage, and less passion than was expected from his constitution, 
answered all their objections with clearness and irresistible reason, 
and convinced all impartial men of his integrity, and his detestation 
of all treasonable intentions. So that, though few excellent men 
have ever had fewer friends to their persons, yet all reasonable men 
absolved him from any foul crime that the law could take notice of 
and punish. 

He underwent his execution (10 th January, 1645,) with all 
Christian courage and magnanimity, to the admiration of the be- 
holders and confusion of his enemies. Vol. i., p. 90 ; ii., p. 572. 

SIR JOHN COLEPEPPER, Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

He had spent some years of his youth in foreign parts, and espe- 
cially in armies, where he had seen good service, and very well 
observed it. He was proud and ambitious, and very much disposed 
to improve his fortune, which he knew well how to do by industry 
and thrift, without stooping to any corrupt ways, to which he was 
not inclined. He did not love the persons of many of those who 
were the violent managers, (oppositionists,) and less their designs ; 
and, therefore, he no sooner knew that he was well spoken of at 
court, but he exposed himself to the invitation, and heartily embraced 
that interest. He had a wonderful insinuation and address into the 
acceptation and confidence of the king and queen, and was not sus- 
pected of flattery, when no man more complied with those infir- 
mities they both had; and by that compliance, prevailed often 
over them. 

He was generally esteemed as a good speaker, being a man of an 
universal understanding, a quick comprehension, a wonderful me- 
mory, who commonly spoke at the end of the debate; when he 
would recollect all that had been said of weight on all sides with 
great exactness, and express his own sense with much clearness, 
and such an application to the house, that no man more gathered a 
general concurrence to his opinion than he, which was the more 
notable, because his person and manner of speaking were ungracious 
enough, so that he prevailed only by the strength of his reason, 
which was enforced with sufficient confidence. He died in 1660. 
Vol. i. p., 340, Life, i., p. 93. 



510 APPENDIX. 

LUCIUS CAREY, second VISCOUNT FALKLAND. 

Secretary of State : killed at the battle of Newbury, in 1643. 

If the celebrating the memory of eminent and extraordinary 
persons, and transmitting their great virtues for the imitation of 
posterity, be one of the principal ends and duties of history, -it will 
not be thought impertinent, in this place, to remember a loss which 
no time will suffer to be forgotten, and no success of good fortune 
could repair. In this unhappy battle was slain the Lord Viscount 
Falkland ; a person of such prodigious parts of learning and know- 
ledge, of that inimitable sweetness and delight in conversation, of so 
flowing and obliging a humanity and goodness to mankind, and of 
that primitive simplicity and integrity of life, that if there were no 
other brand upon this odious and accursed civil war than that single 
loss, it must be most infamous and execrable to all posterity. 

Turpe mori, post te, solo non posse dolor e. 

He was wonderfully beloved by all who knew him, as a man of 
excellent parts, of a wit so sharp, and a nature so sincere, that 
nothing could be more lovely. 

His house (at Tew) being within little more than ten miles of 
Oxford, he contracted familiarity and friendship with the most 
polite and accurate men of that university ; who found such an irn- 
menseness of wit, and such a solidity of judgment in him, so infinite 
a fancy, bound in by a most logical ratiocination ; such a vast 
knowledge, that he was not ignorant in any thing; yet such an 
excessive humility, as if he had known nothing, that they frequently 
resorted and dwelt with him, as in a college situated in a purer air ; 
so that his house was a university in a less volume, whither they 
came not so much for repose as study, and to examine and refine 
those grosser propositions, which laziness and consent made current 
in vulgar conversation. 

He was superior to all those passions and affections which attend 
vulgar minds, and was guilty of no other ambition than of know- 
ledge, and to be reputed a lover of all good men ; and that made 
him too much a contemner of those arts, which must be indulged in 
the transactions of human affairs. 

Thus fell that incomparable young man, in the four and thirtieth 
year of his age, having so much dispatched the true business of life, 
that the oldest rarely attain to that immense knowledge, and the 
youngest enter not into the world with more innocency : whosoever 
leads such a life, needs be the less anxious upon how short warning 
it is taken from him. 

His stature was low, and smaller than most men's; his motion 
not graceful ; and his aspect so far from inviting, that it had some- 



APPENDIX. 511 

what in it of simplicity ; and his voice the worst of the three, and so 
untuned, that, instead of reconciling 1 , it offended the ear; but that 
little person, and small stature, was quickly found to contain a great 
heart, a courage so keen, and a nature so fearless, that no composi- 
tion of the strongest limbs ever disposed any man to greater enter- 
prise ; and that untuned tongue and voice easily discovered itself to 
be supplied and governed by a mind and understanding so excellent, 
that the wit and weight of all he said carried greater lustre with it, 
than any ornament of delivery could ensure. Vol i., p. 340; ii., p. 
350. Life i., p. 39. 

SIR FRANCIS COTTINGTON. 

Created Lord Cottington; Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

He was a very wise man, by the great and long experience he had 
in business of all kinds; and by his natural temper, which was not 
liable to any transport of anger, or any other passion, but could bear 
contradiction, and even reproach, without being moved, or put out of 
his way : for he was very steady in pursuing what he proposed to 
himself, and had a courage not to be frighted with any opposition. 
It is true, he was illiterate as to the grammar of any language, or the 
principles of any science ; but by his perfectly understanding the 
Spanish, (which he spoke as a Spaniard,) the French, and Italian lan- 
guages, and having read very much in all, he could not be said to be 
ignorant in any part of learning, divinity only excepted. 

He was of an excellent humour, and very easy to live with; and, 
under a grave countenance, covered the most of mirth, and caused 
more than any man of the most pleasant disposition. He never used 
any body ill, but used many very well for whom he had no regard: 
his greatest fault was, that he could dissemble, and make men believe 
that he loved them very well, when he cared not for them. He had 
no very tender affections, nor bowels apt to yearn at all objects which 
deserved compassion. He was heartily weary of the world, and no 
man was more willing to die; which is an argument that he had 
peace of conscience. He left behind him a greater esteem of his 
parts than love to his person. He died in 1651. Vol. i., p. 151; 
in., p. 382. 

OLIVER CROMWELL. 

He was one of those men, quos vituperare ne inimici quidem pos- 
sunt, nisi ut simul laudent ; whom his very enemies could not con- 
demn without commending him at the same time ; for he could never 
have done half that mischief without great parts of courage, industry, 
and judgment. He must have had a wonderful understanding in the 
natures and humours of men, and as great a dexterity in applying 
them ; who, from a private and obscure birth, (though of a good 



512 APPENDIX. 

family,) without interest or estate, alliance or friendship, could raise 
himself to such a height, and compound and knead such opposite 
and contradictory tempers, humours, and interests into a consis- 
tence, that contributed to his designs, and to their own destruction ; 
whilst himself grew insensibly powerful enough to cut off those by 
whom he had climbed, in the instant that they projected to demolish 
their own building. What was said of Cinna may very justly be said 
of him, Ausum eum quce^nemo auderet bonus ; perfecisse, quce anullo, 
nisi fortissimo , perfici possent. He attempted those things which no 
good man durst have ventured on ; and achieved those in which none 
but a valiant and great man could have succeeded. Without doubt, 
no man with more wickedness ever attempted any thing, or brought 
to pass what he desired more wickedly, more in the face and contempt 
of religion and moral honesty; yet wickedness as great as his could 
never have accomplished those designs, without the assistance of a 
great spirit, an admirable circumspection and sagacity, and a most 
magnanimous resolution. 

When he appeared first in the parliament, he seemed to have a 
person in no degree gracious, no ornament of discourse, none of 
those talents which use to conciliate the affections of the stander by : 
yet, as he grew into place and authority, his parts seemed to be raised, 
as if he had had concealed faculties, till he had occasion to use them : 
and when he was to act the part of a great man, he did it without any 
indecency, notwithstanding the want of custom. 

After he was confirmed and invested Protector, he consulted with 
very few upon any action of importance, nor communicated any en- 
terprise he resolved upon, with more than those who were to have 
principal parts in the execution of it ; nor with them sooner than was 
absolutely necessary. What he once resolved, in which he was not 
rash, he would not be dissuaded from, nor endure any contradiction 
of his power and authority. 

Cromwell was not so far a man of blood as to follow Machiavel's 
method; which prescribes, upon a total alteration of government, as 
a thing absolutely necessary, to cut off all the heads of those, and 
extirpate their families, who are friends to the old one. It was con- 
fidently reported, that, in the council of officers, it was more than 
once proposed, " That there might be a general massacre of all the 
royal party, as the only expedient to secure the government ;" but 
that Cromwell would never consent to, it may be, out of too great a 
contempt of his enemies. In a word, as he was guilty of many 
crimes against which damnation is denounced, and for which hell fire 
is prepared, so he had some good qualities which have caused the 
memory of some men in all ages to be celebrated; and he will be 
looked upon by posterity as a brave wicked man. He died 3d Sep- 
tember, 1658. Vol. iii., p. 648. 



APPENDIX. 513 

SIR HENRY VANE, the Younger. 

He had an unusual aspect, which, though it might naturally pro- 
ceed both from his father and mother, neither of which were beau- 
tiful persons, yet made men think there was something in him extra- 
ordinary; and his whole life made good that imagination. 

He was indeed a man of extraordinary parts, a pleasant wit, a great 
understanding, which pierced into and discerned the purposes of 
other men with wonderful sagacity, whilst he had himself vultum 
clausum, that no man could make a guess of what he intended. He 
was of a temper not to be moved, of a rare dissimulation, and could 
comply when it was not seasonable to contradict, without losing- 
ground by the condescension; and if he were not superior to Mr. 
Hampden, he was inferior to no other man in all mysterious arti- 
fices. He was executed for high treason in 1662. Vol. i., p. 186; 
ii., p. 379. 

THOMAS WRIOTHESLEY, 4th EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON ; 

Lord Treasurer after the Restoration. 

He was indeed a great man in all respects, and brought very much 
reputation to the king's cause. He had great dislike of the high 
courses which had been taken in the government, and a particular 
prejudice to the Earl of Strafford, for some exorbitant proceedings. 
But as soon as he saw the ways of reverence and duty towards the 
king declined, and the prosecution of the Earl of Strafford to exceed 
the limits of justice, he opposed them vigorously in all their proceed- 
ings. He was a man of great sharpness of judgment, a very quick 
apprehension, and that readiness of expression upon any sudden 
debate, that no man delivered himself more advantageously and 
weightily, and more efficaciously with the hearers; so that no man 
gave them more trouble in his opposition, or drew so many to a con- 
currence with him in opinion. He had no relation to, or dependence 
upon, the court, or purpose to have any, but wholly pursued the 
public interest. 

He was not only an exact observer of justice, but so clear-sighted 
a discerner of all the circumstances which might disguise it, that no 
false or fraudulent colour could impose upon him ; and of so sincere 
and impartial a judgment, that no prejudice to the person of any man 
made him less awake to his cause; but believed that there is aliquid 
et in hostem nefas, and that a very ill man might be very unjustly 
dealt with. On the happy return of his majesty, he seemed to 
recover great vigour of mind, and undertook the charge of high 
treasurer with much alacrity and industry, as long as he had any 
hope to get a revenue settled proportionable to the expense of the 

2l 



J AMI 



514 APPENDIX. 

crown, (towards which his interest, and authority, and counsel, con- 
tributed very much,) or to reduce the expense of the court within 
the limits of the revenue. His person was of a small stature; his 
courage, as all his other faculties, very great; having' no sign of 
fear, or sense of danger, when he was in a place where he ought to 
be found. He died in 1667. Vol. ii., p. 200. Life, iii., p. 781. 

LENTHAL 

Is represented by Clarendon as a very unfit man for the place of 
Speaker; but he was deficient neither in good sense or presence of 
mind, if we may judge from the following anecdote : When the king 
went into the house of commons (1642) to demand the five members* 
he asked the. Speaker, who stood below, whether any of them were 
in the house ? The Speaker, falling on his knee, prudently replied, 
" I have, Sir, neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, in this place, 
but as the house is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am ; and T 
humbly ask pardon, that I cannot give any other answer to what 
your majesty is pleased to demand of me." — Hume. 



THE END. 



LONDON ; 

Printed by Maurice & Co., Fenchurch-street. 



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